March 03, 2015

A new game coming to Android devices in mid-2015 challenges players to make it through New York City with one life and is called Leap of Fate.

There's a catch though, the New York you are traveling through is a cyberpunk version of it and is also very dangerous. Using your one life, with no way to replenish health, you will take on various kinds of enemies using magic skills that can be leveled up. Levels are randomly generated, so memorization will not help. All you have is the skills you have leveled up during your current game.

Leap of Fate's website is promising an unforgiving game, that has alternate endings. While completely different in gameplay, it reminds me of the Wii U launch game Zombi U, which had a Survival Mode where players only got one life to complete the entire game. I say this a lot about upcoming Android games, but this might be one worth checking out.

Hey faithful visitors to Droid Gamers! Don't worry, we aren't letting you down. GDC 2015 (Game Developers Conference) is going on right now and we are fortunate enough to be meeting with a lot of your favorite game developers.

So, if news is a little bit slow during the day, that is the reason why. We are trying to get all of the latest and greatest gaming and hardware news for you to enjoy. Hang in there with us! We know how frustrating it can be to hit that refresh button and see the same old stories. Some of our writers didn't come along for the trip, so they will be posting news when they can, and a lot of updates will be coming up at night, when nothing is going on at the conference. We just wanted to let you know in case you were wondering. It is going to be a great year for mobile game releases, and we will share all of that news with you as soon as we can!

With the number of Chrome users on ICS dropping by thirty percent over the last year, the Chrome team has decided not to further support Android 4.0 in the future. ICS users can keep on using Chrome, but won’t get any further updates.

Previously I talked about the Pebble Time Kickstarter, and why I thought it was the most practical smartwatch to buy in 2015, and that I decided to be an early backer on Kickstarter. Well as of this morning an interesting development has come from my – currently – favorite smartwatch company. They will release the Pebble Time Steel variant alongside the regular Pebble, instead of say a whole release cycle down the road. The accompanying announcement along with the Steel, is the ability to get custom ‘smartbands’ with your choice of sensors embedded. Want to add NFC, GPS… you get the picture, they haven’t released a complete list of additional sensors yet.

Price and availability?

For Kickstarter backers you’ll find the least expensive package at $250 (will retail for $300), or for $400 you can get one Pebble Time Steel, and one Pebble Time. The Pebble Time Steel Kickstarter backers will begin receiving their units in June, while May is still the expected delivery time for the Pebble Time. If you originally backed the Pebble Time like myself, there are about 3000 Pebble Time Steels leftover for you to upgrade to, or if you’re a new backer who missed out on the original campaign now is your chance. Check out more details here at the official Kickstarter page.

What’s different about the Steel Time?

So it’s 1mm thicker than the regular Pebble Time, but it advertises up to 10 days of battery life, over the advertised seven days of battery life of the regular Pebble Time. They managed to fit a larger battery into the steel chassis and only increase the size of the device by 1mm, this is achieved by directly adhering the display to the protective glass layer. Similar to how Apple and Samsung get their devices so thin, there is very little space between the display and you. To learn more about the manufacturing process, you can watch the updated Kickstarter video here. The included microphone is still in the Steel Time just as it is in the Pebble Time, which will allow you to add reminders and calendar events from your wrist. The mic will also support limited quick reply features, all from the water-resistant smartwatch. Nearly all of the devices sensors and software will be completely available to developers.

What about the smartbands?

Okay, so I admittedly don’t have a ton of details on the smartbands, and I don’t think they really gave that much about them. I’m on a special Kickstarter mailing list, and get details before most, I will update this article accordingly when I learn more. I wish they’d send me a trial of the Pebble Time Steel, and maybe a gps smartband. Just to recap, they intend to offer the customer the ability to pick and choose amongst a cornucopia of sensors, like NFC, and GPS. Then they intend to open those sensors up to “hackers and developers.”

Conclusion

I’m still just as excited about the future of the Pebble Time smartwatch line, this is a company that only makes smartwatches. It’s their livelihood, I’d take them seriously if I were the likes of Samsung, Apple, LG, Motorola, etc. I don’t think I’ll update my order to the Steel Time, but I’ve heavily considered it. Check out my original article on the Pebble Time here, and let me know what you think in the comments below! I still think it’s the most practical smartwatch to buy in 2015, and now it’s looking even better.

Today, we’re bringing you new tools to build better apps with the rollout of Google Play services 7.0. With this release, we’re delivering improvements to location settings experiences, a brand new API for place information, new fitness data, automatic integration of AdMob and Google Analytics, Google Play Games, and more.

Location Settings Dialog

While the FusedLocationProviderApi combines multiple sensors to give you the optimal location, the accuracy of the location your app receives still depends greatly on what settings are enabled on the device (e.g. GPS, wifi, airplane mode, etc). In Google Play services 7.0, we’re introducing a standard mechanism to check that the necessary location settings are enabled for a given LocationRequest to succeed. If there are possible improvements, you can display a one touch control for the user to change their settings without leaving your app.

This API provides a great opportunity to make for a much better user experience, particularly if location information is critical to the user experience of your app such as was the case with Google Maps when they integrated the Location Settings dialog and saw a dramatic increase in the number of users in a good location state.

Places API

Location can be so much more than a latitude and longitude: the new Places API makes it easy to get details from Google’s database of places and businesses. The built-in place picker makes it easy for the user to pick their current place and provides all the relevant place details including name, address, phone number, website, and more.

If you prefer to provide your own UI, the getCurrentPlace() API returns places directly around the user’s current location. Autocomplete predictions are also provided to allow a low latency search experience directly within your app.

You can also manually add places with the addPlace() API and report that the user is at a particular place, ensuring that even the most explorative users can input and share their favorite new places.

The Places API will also be available cross-platform: in a few days, you’ll be able to apply for the Places API for iOS beta program to ensure a great and consistent user experience across mobile platforms.

Google Fit

Google Fit makes building fitness apps easier with fitness specific APIs on retrieving sensor data like current location and speed, collecting and storing activity data in Google Fit’s open platform, and automatically aggregating that data into a single view of the user’s fitness data.

In Google Play services 7.0, the previous Fitness.API that you passed into your GoogleApiClient has now been replaced with a number of APIs, matching the high level set of Google Fit Android APIs:

This change significantly reduces the memory requirement for Google Fit enabled apps running in the background. Like always, apps built on previous versions of Google Play services will continue to work, but we strongly suggest you rebuild your Google Fit enabled apps to take advantage of this change.

Having all the data can be an empowering part of making meaningful changes and Google Fit is augmenting their existing data types with the addition of body fat percentage and sleep data.

Google Mobile Ads

We’ve found integration of AdMob and Google Analytics a powerful combination for analyzing how your users really use your app since we launched Google Analytics in AdMob last year. This new release enables any Google Mobile Ads SDK implementation to automatically get Google Analytics integration giving you the number of users and sessions, session duration, operating systems, device models, geography, and automatic screen reporting without any additional development work.

In addition, we’ve made numerous improvements across the SDK including ad request prefetching (saving battery usage and improving apparent latency) and making the SDK MRAIDv2 compliant.

Google Play Games

Announced at Game Developers Conference (GDC), we’re offering new tools to supercharge your games on Google Play. Included in Google Play services 7.0 is the Nearby Connections API, allowing games to seamlessly connect smartphones and tablets as second-screen controls to the game running on your TV.

App Indexing

App Indexing lets Google index apps just like websites, enabling Google search results to deep-link directly into your native app. We've simplified the App Indexing API to make this integration even easier for you by combining the existing view()/viewEnd() and action()/end() flows into a single start() and end() API.

Changes to GoogleApiClient

GoogleApiClient serves as the common entry point for accessing Google APIs. For this release, we’ve made retrieval of Google OAuth 2.0 tokens part of GoogleApiClient, making it much easier to request server auth codes to access Google APIs.

SDK Coming Soon!

We will be rolling out Google Play services 7.0 over the next few days. Expect an update to this blog post, published documentation, and the availability of the SDK once the rollout is completed.

This update is dominated by a rather large chapter on RecyclerView.
It covers how to get back all of the stuff that RecyclerView lost
from ListView and GridView, plus some things that RecyclerView
can do that its predecessors cannot. Basically, it covers the
RecyclerView equivalents of pretty much everything the book has
on ListView and GridView, including how to support choice modes
(e.g., checklists, activated states) and action modes. It also
demonstrates CardView along the way.

In addition, there is a new chapter on Parcelable (what it is,
how to make your own classes Parcelable, and Parcelable
problems) and various other minor improvements.

The next update is tentatively scheduled for the second half of April.

Everyone has a gaming-ready device in their pocket today. In fact, of the one billion Android users in more than 190 countries, three out of four of them are gamers. This allows game developers to reach a global audience and build a successful business. Over the past year, we paid out more than $7 billion to developers distributing apps and games on Google Play.

At our Developer Day during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) taking place this week, we announced a set of new features for Google Play Games and AdMob to power great gaming. Rolling out over the next few weeks, these launches can help you better measure and monetize your games.

Better measure and adapt to player needs

“Player Analytics has helped me hone in on BombSquad’s shortcomings, right the ship, and get to a point where I can financially justify making the games I want to make.”

Eric Froemling, BombSquad developer

Google Play Games is a set of services that help game developers reach and engage their audience. To further that effort, we’re introducing Player Analytics, giving developers access to powerful analytics reports to better measure overall business success and understand in-game player behavior. Launching in the next few weeks in the Google Play Developer Console, the new tool will give indie developers and big studios better insight into how their players are progressing, spending, and churning; access to critical metrics like ARPPU and sessions per user; and assistance setting daily revenue targets.

BombSquad, created by a one-person game studio in San Francisco, was able to more than double its revenue per user on Google Play after implementing design changes informed during beta testing Player Analytics.

Optimizing ads to earn the most revenue

After optimizing your game for performance, it’s important to build a smarter monetization experience tailored to each user. That’s why we’re announcing three important updates to the AdMob platform:

Native Ads: Currently available as a limited beta, participating game developers will be able to show ads in their app from Google advertisers, and then customize them so that users see ads that match the visual design of the game. Atari is looking to innovate on its games, like RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile, and more effectively engage users with this new feature.

In-App Purchase House Ads Beta: Game developers will be able to smartly grow their in-app purchase revenue for free. AdMob can now predict which users are more likely to spend on in-app purchases, and developers will be able to show these users customized text or display ads promoting items for sale. Currently in beta, this feature will be coming to all AdMob accounts in the next few weeks.

Audience Builder: A powerful tool that enables game developers to create lists of audiences based on how they use their game. They will be able to create customized experiences for users, and ultimately grow their app revenue.

"Atari creates great game experiences for our broad audience. We're happy to be partnering with Google and be the first games company to take part in the native ads beta and help monetize games in a way that enhances our users' experience."

Todd Shallbetter, Chief Operating Officer, Atari

New game experiences powered by Google

Last year, we launched Android TV as a way to bring Android into the living room, optimizing games for the big screen. The OEM ecosystem is growing with announced SmartTVs and micro-consoles from partners like Sony, TPVision/Philips and Razer.

To make gaming even more dynamic on Android TV, we’re launching the Nearby Connections API with the upcoming update of Google Play services. With this new protocol, games can seamlessly connect smartphones and tablets as second-screen controls to the game running on your TV. Beach Buggy Racing is a fun and competitive multiplayer racing game on Android TV that plans to use Nearby Connections in their summer release, and we are looking forward to more living room multiplayer games taking advantage of mobile devices as second screen controls.

At Google I/O last June, we also unveiled Google Cardboard with the goal of making virtual reality (VR) accessible to everyone. With Cardboard, we are giving game developers more opportunities to build unique and immersive experiences from nothing more than a piece of cardboard and your smartphone. The Cardboard SDKs for Android and Unity enable you to easily build VR apps or adapt your existing app for VR.

Check us out at GDC

Visit us at the Google booth #502 on the Expo floor to get hands on experience with Project Tango, Niantic Labs and Cardboard starting on Wednesday, March 4. Our teams from AdMob, AdWords, Analytics, Cloud Platform and Firebase will also be available to answer any of your product questions.

February 26, 2015

Ladies and gentlemen currently living in or planning to visit Austin during SXSW, BRACE YOURSELVES. Our fair city is about to be overrun by musicians, movie buffs, and most importantly, makers. This roundup will help you get ready for all the insanity.

OUR INSIGHTS

MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT

So ready for SXSWi

What kind of innovation agency would we be if we didn’t participate in one of the world’s biggest tech festivals, especially when it’s in our own backyard? Well, there’s no reason to even entertain that thought, because we’ll be speaking at panels, chatting it up at cocktail hours and hosting some awesome events in our office. See more on our own Interactive page.

PODCAST SPOTLIGHT

February 24, 2015

We’ve featured both HeadsUp and AcDisplay by XDA Recognized Developer AChep in the past. Both have been constantly improved since they were released, and with the recent updates for better Lollipop support and material design, we figured it would be a good time for a double feature.

The two apps are excellent for handling your notifications, each in their own and distinct manner.

AcDisplay

AcDisplay informs you of new notifications you receive while your screen is off, by showing you a minimal overview allowing you to view, clear or action the notification.

Many customization options are provided: you can set the minimum and maximum priority of notifications to be shown (this is useful so that your screen doesn’t wake up for weather updates, for example) or even configure AcDisplay on a per app basis, choosing a custom wallpaper (or dynamically picking the notification’s icon/artwork), using the system font (as opposed to Roboto) and more. Inactive hours can also be defined to disable AcDisplay entirely during your sleep.

Two additional modes are also available, giving you the choice to use AcDisplay as your lockscreen, or automatically activating it when you pick your device up. Both of these options can also be dynamically disabled when no notifications are available.

HeadsUp

HeadsUp, on the other hand, is more comparable to the feature introduced in Lollipop, though it adds many needed features and customization options to it.

When it comes to looks, you can select from two themes (dark and light). That’s not all, though: you also have the option to configure the heads up’s position, having it show at the top or bottom of the screen, and optionally overlaying the status bar. Emoji can also be enabled, as well as using the system font (mostly useful for non AOSP ROMs).

Swiping to the right or left can either dismiss the notification or hide the heads up — this is configurable by the user. Swiping up always hides all heads up notifications. Naturally, you can disable or enable HeadsUp for each app individually. A neat addition over the stock heads up system is that multiple notifications can be displayed at once, instead of replacing the previous one.

Both are compatible with all devices running Android 4.1 or later, though 4.3+ is recommended as it introduces notification listeners (giving third-party apps the ability to clear notifications and letting them know when one is cleared).

What’s New?

Versions 3.x have been out for a few weeks (with the latest releases coming out just yesterday), with bugs being squashed along the way and some features making it in. They should be fully usable now, with many changes since the 2.x releases.

For those who haven’t been following their development, here’s what’s new in 3.x for AcDisplay:

Material design!

Basic JellyBean (4.1&4.2) support.

Options to show emoji instead of text smileys, for overriding system fonts and better privacy features when Android’s secure lock is enabled.

Many other improvements, bug fixes and translation updates.

… and for HeadsUp:

Material design!

Options to make heads up overlap the status bar, show at the bottom of the screen or on the lockscreen, and to disable the timeout entirely. The behavior when swiping to the left or right can also be customized.

Users can swipe up to hide all heads up.

Many other improvements, bug fixes and translation updates.

(You can view the full changelog for HeadsUp here, and for AcDisplay here.)

The recent announcement that Google would no longer be supplying security updates for legacy Android users has caused consternation among fans of the search engine giant’s smartphone operating system. With more than 930 million Android mobiles being affected, the decision highlights a growing concern over smartphone and tablet security. These days’ people rely on their smartphones for more than just calling and texting. With the rising popularity of the so called ‘phablet’, people are using their mobile handsets for everything from surfing the web to collaborating on business documents. Now, more than ever, data security and personal privacy are the chief concerns for savvy smartphone owners. So, it comes as unwelcome news that many of Androids most popular apps are failing basic security reviews, putting Android users’ data and privacy at risk.

Deja Vu for Android

This isn’t the first time that Google’s Android has come under fire for potentially hazardous apps. Earlier this year, Prague based security firm Avast discovered that a selection of gaming apps available directly from Google Play were infected with malware. The security issues in that case mostly centered on certain gaming apps that, when purchased and downloaded onto the user’s smartphone, infected the operating system with adware and malware. Typically, the malware would hibernate for weeks before going into action. Users would have no indication that their mobile was infected until they began to be plagued by adverts warning them of security issues with their phone. The user would then be redirected to a third party app that promised to solve the imaginary problem, ultimately installing spyware that would harvest the user’s data and personal information.

Google has attempted to downplay the reports, assuring users that the problem is not widespread and only affects a small percentage of Google play customers. However, more recent reports of malware hidden in some of the more basic Android apps suggest the problem may be more widespread.

Latest Batch of Vulnerable Apps

The latest batch of vulnerable Android apps are perhaps more disturbing than previous groups. The suspicious apps discovered by Avast were mostly gaming apps developed by third parties and submitted for distribution by Google Play. However, the latest batch of at risk apps are more well know, and make up some of the most popular apps downloaded and used by Android owners. They include Instagram, Grindr, HeyWire, TextPlus, and OKCupid to name just a few. Other popular apps are also said to pose serious security risks for users.

The issue with these apps appears to lie in their failure to successfully encrypt user data. The University of New Haven’s Cyber Forensics Research and Education Group found that Facebook’s Instagram application allowed its user’s uploaded images to remain unencrypted and accessible without any form of authentication. These same encryption and storage issues were also found in other popular apps like Grindr, MessageMe, and Tango.

Allowing this data to remain stored without any form of encryption and accessible without any form of authentication, makes it easy pickings for potential hackers. Further problems were discovered with many of the same apps’ SSL/TLS security protocols, putting any unencrypted data at an additional risk for so called ‘man in the middle’ Wi-Fi hacks. The research group has reached out to the developers of the vulnerable apps, but so-far has seen little response. It would seem, at least for the foreseeable future, that these apps will remain a significant risk factor for Android users.

Google’s Android continues to come under fire for potentially vulnerable apps. One would only hope that Google is currently working to address the situation, and will put a new emphasis on their customers’ security. In the meantime, users should beware of downloading suspicious apps, and should be hyper vigilant about protecting files stored on their phones.

February 23, 2015

Internet has given a great platform to all game lovers especially the poker ones. Now it’s too easy to install poker over your Android, IOS and all other high deficiency gadgets. More and more poker apps are being added to the market and the latest one is 888poker app. You can download it via 888poker to get started right away. You can play it online too anytime. Online poker fans are craving for more and more of these types of apps and all of the added innovations in poker is the result of such craving. Australian fans of poker have been delighted with the announcement of 888Poker app. Texas holdem and all the other poker related games could be played here. You can play your favorite games on the go from the mobile apps available. This new app is associated with many features like practice play mode or 888poker real money app. If you opt for the latter you can have the entire set of fun that one has in cash games, beginners table and at SNG. Just click to 888poker real money app and get it over to your mobile screen NOW. If you opt for the latter then you can enjoy the diverse variety of low staked cash tables. In- dominations like $0.01/$0.02 and the continuation of this series could be enjoyed for 6-9 players or among 2, 6 or 9 players. Latter player buy in $1-$1.10. Quick Seat Feature This is an incomparable feature which is very unique. Play at tables or off table, there is so much in store. There is no need to be patient just enjoy the fun involved in poker. With the introduction of this app you could easily fit yourself to the requested seat in just double quick time. Here you can stake even the quick seat function at an increased rate than that of beginners table and you need to avail it $1/$2 apiece in cash games. No need to refrain yourself to a limit. Enjoy this game to any extent you like through the SNG or cash feature. This mobile game is made for your complete enjoyment. It is expected that soon this app is going to enrol itself in the global premier poker game. Enjoy it around the clock 24X7. It has already too much to offer and as far as the rumors are concerned, it is soon going to come with many new other introductory games which no other poker games have. If you are still having doubts about the functionality of this 888poker app then watch Embed 888poker app commercial on YouTube to get embedded 888poker app commercial on You Tube. What else could be expected from this innovative app?This app already had too much to offer and is expected that soon Razz, tournaments and 5 card draw will be associated with it along with PL, FL and NL. Enjoy this unlimited fun over your 5 inch screen anytime, anywhere. Now this poker game is all available for you!

ALSO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT SOME MORE GAMING AND POKER SITES AND APPS, THE GUYS AT CASINO MIDAS OFFER A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFERENT STYLES OF GAMEPLAY AND WAGER OPTIONS. TAKE A LOOK AND VISIT THEIR WEBSITE HERE: casinomidas.com.au

February 21, 2015

Cyanogen Mod 12 a k a CM12 is now available for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. This is great for those who want to get enjoy vanilla Android experience. There are no Samsung applications on it which means your Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 will run very fast and of course reliability.

A developer has released Android 5 lollipop firmware for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 tablet. The ROM is very stable and we have tested it. Everything works perfectly well including 3G / HSDPA and GPS. It will give your Tab 2 7 a second life.

February 20, 2015

Over the past few months I’ve been desperately trying to clear out some of my older phones and tablets. Anyone that knows me personally will testify as to how much of a hoarder I am when it comes to technology however the tech cupboard was bulging and it really was time to start shifting things.

When it comes to shifting things like this there are a few options, some of them could end up costing you money and others are simply too dangerous. It really is a minefield knowing where is best to sell high or medium value phones / tablets whilst trying to get the money that they are actually worth.

I decided to look at each avenue that I would normally go down and document what I thought of each avenue then give you all what I believe is the best of those options.

We all know about the power of social networking, it’s the one place where you could literally sell snow to an Eskimo however the key to this is making sure that you have people within those social networks that would be in need of a phone. For me this one is dead easy as almost everyone I engage with on Twitter or Google+ have a keen interest in technology. The reach (viewers) of what you have for sale has the potential to be huge.

Sadly a lot of this relies on trust on both the seller and the buyers part. If you, as the seller, get paid then there is trust needed by the buyer that you will send the phone. If you decide however, as the seller, that you will send the phone and wait for payment then you have to trust that you will be paid when the buyer gets the phone.

What was mentioned as a pro can also be seen as a con. Unless you have your networks filled with people who love technology then you might find it hard to sell via this method.

eBay is tried and tested. You can almost guarantee that you will sell whatever you have for sale on eBay and the reach is massive. The people who see what you are selling are the very same people that are looking for what you are selling. Payment is (in most cases) instant and you are protected by PayPal if you have your account set up correctly following the buyer / seller protection guide..

The eBay fees are horrendous! Firstly you are charged for selling your item (this can be quite costly if you have a Buy It Now and a Reserve set) then you are hit with fees based on your final sale price. Overall the costs can often outweigh the value of using the site especially when, after you take the fees from your profit, you find that you could have easily have sold it for that price elsewhere (a lowered price). Add this to the fact that technology is one of the most scammed categories on eBay and that you may well have to list it 3 to 4 times following fake (ship to my cousin in Nigeria) winning bids.

Gumtree is huge, especially on a local level. Your reach can often be twice that of social networks and often the people looking at what you have for sale are in the market for that very thing. There are no fees at all (unless you chose to upgrade your listing) and you can list it for any price you want knowing you will get that exact amount.

TRUST & SAFETY – this is the biggest problem with Gumtree. Whilst it is completely free and increases your reach you are bound by the fact that you either have to ship the item to the buyer or that you have to meet them in person. Even being paid by PayPal is not a guarantee that you will get your money as there are often PayPal charge-backs / reversals resulting in you losing both the item and the money. There is no seller or buyer feedback and anyone can list pretty much anything.

If you do choose to use this avenue then please, for the love of all things intelligent, never meet anyone anywhere that isn’t public and busy.

The reach of this is ideal.The people who use specialised forums are often the people looking to buy technology. There are safeguards are rules in place which are normally set by the forum administrators and often there are feedback measures in place for people too.

A lot of the cons for this avenue are the same as Gumtree and Social Networks. You have to take people at face value and be trusting (which is often very hard to do as a human). Whilst the pro for this option is the reach, this could also be a con if it’s a niche or super expensive item you’re selling. The reach could be drastically reduced.

Swappa is huge now, it has a massive reach in the US and is used by people mainly wanting to buy and sell phones / tablets which makes it ideal for what you are trying to achieve. The people using the site often know the value of the equipment making it easier to get a great price for what you have.

Swappa also make it very hard for anyone to list fake items with the need for sellers to upload a photo of what they have alongside a unique code for that auction (often written on paper and placed in the photo).

Unlike the other avenues there are very few cons for using Swappa. The biggest con for me however is that the site is very much geared for the US market despite having a UK version available however with that said, I know from recent discussions with the site owner that the UK is being worked on and that they have already taken steps to make it more usable for people in the UK.

Uploading a photo with proof that what you have for sale is genuine is often a genuine pain (at least for lazy folk like me) however whilst this is a con, it’s a safe con.

There are so many of these now, there are even comparison sites for them and they offer guaranteed cash in a short period of time.

They give a value based on your word about the devices condition. If your view of the device condition doesn’t meet theirs then you could be given a lower value for your device than you were quoted.

The quoted and final value is often WAY below what the phone is worth second hand. The value can be decreased even by hundreds of £’s as these sites look to recycle.

Conclusion:

As you can see above, there are a lot of options available to you with varying degrees of selling success. After carefully weighing up all options as well as the pro’s and con’s of each avenue I would be more persuaded to take the Swappa route. There are several reasons for this choice but here are just a few…

It’s FREE – yeah that’s right, you don’t pay to list it or when you sell it.

There are fees for buyers but they are a flat rate of £5 in the UK, $10 in the US, $10 in Canada and €5 in Europe

It has a massive reach – the reach is almost as good as eBay in terms of item views

It’s geared for phone and tablet sales – with things like damage and condition disclosures you know exactly what you are buying

The people using the site want a new phone or tablet specifically.

They use PayPal – thought PayPal is an eBay company, the use of PayPal on Swappa is just the same as it is on eBay and a sale is not considered complete until the buyer has paid.

Most importantly for me, and the winner as far as everything else goes is the GLOBAL ESN CHECK ( Electronic Serial Number). In the UK we call them IMEI numbers and the tool will also check those. This gives massive peace of mind that the phone / tablet is not blacklisted which is impossible to check on the other selling sites.

Of course you are free to sell your items wherever you want, you could even take them to a car boot sale if you chose but if you want the items true value and peace of mind then I would fully recommend using Swappa.

Share your thoughts and experiences below, we would love to hear where you sell your phones and why.

What’s New with Notifications
covers some of the changes that arose in 2014 related to the use of
Notifications, such as customizing them for Android Wear and Android 5.0’s
new behaviors.

The Leanback BrowseFragment
is a short presentation on how to use the leanback-v17 library to create
a TV-centric UI, focusing on the BrowseFragment for a two-dimensional
nested-list UI for browsing categories of content.

Much Manifest Merging
will sift through the rules for how your Android app’s manifest is
generated from your Gradle build files, your main sourceset, your
sourcesets for build types and product flavors, and your third-party
library projects and AARs.

February 06, 2015

In the previous post I demonstrated, how a Bluetooth Low Energy dongle can be used to connect a PC and an Android device. While this is sort of project is appealing, connecting PCs and smartphones is not such an interesting use case. It is much more interesting, however, to transfer the PC-side program directly to an embedded device and that's what I will demonstrate in this post.

There are two baskets of embedded platforms out there. One of them is optimized for low power consumption. They are too limited to run a full-scale operating system therefore their system is often proprietary. Arduino (of which we have seen the RFDuino variant) is one of them but there are many more, e.g. Bluegiga modules also have a proprietary application model. We can typically expect power consumption in the 1-10 mA range with some platforms offering even lower standby consumption.

The other basket contains scaled-down computers and they are able to run stripped down versions of a real operating system. Their power consumption is in the 100-500 mA range and they often sport 100s of megabytes of RAM and gigabytes of flash memory. They are of course not comparable to low power platforms when it comes to power consumption but their much higher performance (which can be relevant for computation-intensive tasks) and compatibility with mainstream operating systems make them very attractive for certain tasks. The card I chose is BeagleBoard Black and my main motivation was that Ubuntu chose this card as a reference platform for its Ubuntu Core variant.

The point I try to make in this post is how easy it is to port an application developed for desktop PC to these embedded computers. Therefore let's just port the BLE server part of the CTS example demo to BeagleBone Black.

Then unpack the BLE server application into a directory and set up these environment variables.

export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf-; export ARCH=arm

Enter the beagle_conn_example directory that you unpacked from the ZIP package and execute:

make

This should re-generate cts_1.0.0_all.snap which is already present in the ZIP archive in case you run into problems with building the app. The snap is the new package format for snappy. Then you can install this package on the card.

snappy-remote --url=ssh://192.168.1.123 install ./cts_1.0.0_all.snap

You have to update the IP address according to what your card obtained on your network. The upload tool will prompt you for username/password, it is ubuntu/ubuntu by default.

Update the GATT tree in the BLED112 firmware as described in the previous post. Plug the BLED112 dongle into the BeagleBoard's USB port. Then open a command prompt on the BeagleBoard either using the serial debug interface or by connecting to the instance with ssh and execute the following command:

sudo /apps/cts/1.0.0/bin/cts /dev/ttyACM0

The familiar console messages appear and you can connect with the Android app as depicted in the image below.

One thing you can notice here is that Snappy's shiny new package system is not ready yet. In order for this package to access the /dev/ttyACM0 device (to which the BLED112 is mapped without problem), it has to run as root. This is something that the Snappy team is yet to figure out. The experience, however, is smooth enough that application development can be started now.

February 05, 2015

Many keyboards are available on Android, but not all of them are equal. Some try to be the best keyboard for all users, others target a niche market – whatever you’re looking for, you’re likely to find one that suits your needs.

To help you find the keyboard you want, we’re going to review a dozen (based on your comments here, plus some popular choices) by taking a look at several aspects:

Fleksy

Input

Fleksy looks like your average keyboard, but it’s got some neat features to set it apart. It comes with some intuitive gestures you can use to quickly perform common actions. You can swipe to the right to insert a space, or to the left to delete the last word. Other gestures are also present, which we’ll discuss later.

Inputting numbers and symbols is usually done by switching to the secondary pane (they’re not shown at all in the primary pane). This can be done in multiple ways: you can press the “123” button, swipe from it, or long press any key. However, you can also activate “extensions” for additional functionality, such as adding a numbers row. Common punctuation marks are also offered as suggestions after every word, and you can cycle through them by swiping up and down.

Another extension allows you to define text shortcuts, which can come in handy for typing common phrases, emails or phone numbers quickly. Emoji and text emoticons input is also present, and can even be extended to insert GIFs (which is especially useful in Hangouts) using another extension.

One of the few annoyances with Fleksy is that it has a tendency to insert a space after every word or punctuation when smart spaces are enabled (even when returning to a new line — the previous one will end with a space). This could probably be made smarter, but you can fortunately turn it off if it bothers you.

Multiple languages

If you regularly type in more than one language, switching between them is easy enough — you just need to swipe the space bar left or right. You’re also able to change the layout of the keyboard for any language, and choose from the usual layouts as well as Colemak and Dvorak.

Fans of dual language input will be slightly disappointed, however, as there is no way to get corrections in another language without switching to it.

Correcting input and predictions

Fleksy heavily relies on its auto-correction. The goal is to provide reliable corrections without requiring a high level of accuracy, and it seems to work most of the time. When it doesn’t, you can just swipe up to undo the last correction (you can also swipe up or down to go through the list of corrections, if the first one isn’t accurate). This also makes typing foreign, technical or swear words easier, and makes auto-correction slightly less frustrating when you don’t need it.

The “Editor” extension allows you to move the cursor left and right by dragging a bar at the top of your screen. It also adds buttons to quickly cut, copy, select and paste content, although you’ll still have to select the text the usual way.

Another plus is that this keyboard is able to import your contacts’ names, as well as words you use in your social accounts, emails and SMS messages. Unfortunately, Fleksy doesn’t seem to respect the system wide personal dictionaries, which can make switching from/between some keyboards a bit of a hassle. On the other hand, adding and removing words is pretty easy — you just need to swipe up once more after undoing a correction.

Themes and customizability

You are able to choose from a variety of themes: some will change the colors, others will also set an image background for the keyboard. While you’re not able to create your own themes, the available selection covers a wide range. Some extensions also provide additional eye candy, like “Rainbow Pops” which makes key pops colored.

The keyboard’s size can also be reduced to free up some screen space, if you find it too big. You can also hide the bottom bar (which contains the space bar, emoji and return button — the other buttons’ functions can be accessed using alternate methods) on the go by swiping down with two fingers (to show it again, you just need to do the opposite).

Other features

The “Launcher” extension might prove to be useful to some users. It basically acts like a mini launcher, allowing you to switch apps (e.g. messaging apps) easily from your keyboard.

Another neat extension is “Invisible Keyboard”. Not only does it turn your keyboard invisible, as its name applies, it also makes all of the screen available to the foreground app (with the keyboard acting as an overlay). This allows you to type without sacrificing any screen estate (although it will obviously block any clickable content below the keyboard), assuming you can get used to it.

Privacy

You can find Fleksy’s privacy policy here. You’ll need to have an Internet connection in order to download new languages or use cloud related features.

Download

Google Keyboard

Input

(Note that Google Keyboard and the AOSP keyboard are very similar, with the exception of some features that aren’t available in the AOSP keyboard, such as gesture typing and learning from Google services.)

Google Keyboard is a fairly traditional keyboard at first glance, but it actually comes with quite a bit of additional functionality. You can either type normally or enable gesture typing to swipe words (both can be used at the same time). The latter is quite accurate, and can even be used without lifting your finger at all by gliding over the space bar between words (although that often comes at the cost of accuracy).

To type numbers, you can either long press the top row or switch to the secondary pane. For symbols, you have the choice between switching panes and long pressing the “.” key instead, though the layout being slightly different from the secondary pane can cause some confusion. (You can also swipe from the “?123″ key, which instantly switches to the secondary pane.) If you prefer having a numbers row and more easily accessible symbols, you can enable the PC layout in the settings (unfortunately, this doesn’t provide arrow keys).

Emoji and text emoticons are easily accessible by long pressing the Enter key. Recently used emoji are also saved in the first tab. Additionally, a special dictionary can be installed to suggest emoji in some (very limited) cases.

You can also define text shortcuts through the system’s personal dictionaries, by adding or editing a word/phrase then specifying the shortcut. This allows you to type emails, phone numbers or common phrases more quickly.

Multiple languages

Multiple languages can be easily installed, after which you can switch between them by pressing the language key (if enabled), or long pressing the space bar. Dual language input isn’t supported by Google Keyboard.

Custom layouts can be defined for each language. You can choose from QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Colemak, Dvorak and PC layouts.

Correcting input and predictions

Corrections seem fairly accurate, and the aggressiveness with which your mistakes get automatically corrected can be customized. The position of the letters is taken into consideration and saved, which is useful if you complete a phrase then want to go back to correct a word. However, it tends to forget those once you start editing the word, which in turn has the effect of turning slightly inaccurate suggestions into completely unrelated ones. You can press the backspace key to undo a correction right after it is made, but Google Keyboard doesn’t provide you with any additional tricks for editing past input.

The system wide custom dictionaries are used and respected. This can be handy if you switch between multiple keyboards that make use of them. Adding a word to the custom dictionary is as easy as tapping it.

Options are provided to add contacts’ names to the list of suggestions, using data from other Google services to learn words you commonly use, and to allow potentially offensive words. That last option still seems to give a higher priority to other words, though, so adding them to your dictionary can also come in handy.

Google Keyboard can offer next word predictions, if the option is enabled, but those seem rather dumb and only take the last word into consideration.

Themes and customizability

Holo and material themes are provided. They each come in two flavors: dark and light. That’s about it for customizing how your keyboard looks, although the material themes do look pretty good.

Privacy

The standard Google privacy policy applies. You can also opt out of usage statistics if you wish to do so. You need an Internet connection to download additional language packs.

Download

Hacker’s Keyboard

Input

Hacker’s Keyboard is mainly aimed at power users or those who want a PC-like experience. It comes in really handy when you’re in an SSH session thanks to the arrow and function keys (by default, the full PC layout is only used in landscape; you can change this in the settings).

When using the 4-row layout, numbers/symbols input is comparable to the Gingerbread keyboard — you can either long press keys or switch to the secondary pane. If you’re using the full 5-rows layout, however, you basically get your computer’s keyboard: numbers row, arrow keys, symbols that are accessible by long pressing keys or pressing Shift, etc. You can also use a numpad at any time by pressing the “Fn” key, which is very useful when you need to type lots of numbers.

Text shortcuts and emoji input are not supported.

Multiple languages

You can enable multiple languages from the keyboard’s settings, after which you’re able to switch between them by swiping the space bar left or right. Many languages do not have a dictionary available, though — you’ll get the layout and keys, but not the corrections. However, Some additional dictionaries can be downloaded from the Google Play store. Dual language input isn’t possible.

Custom layouts can be chosen for some languages (for example, English supports QWERTY and Dvorak), but not all.

Correcting input and predictions

Corrections are accurate, though they’re not automatic by default. Similarly to Google Keyboard, you can press the backspace key to undo a correction right after it is made.

Fixing past mistakes is a bit trickier than most keyboards, as tapping a misspelt word to correct it will not bring back the list of corrections. You’ll either have to correct the mistake manually, remove the word and type it again, or rely on the Android built-in spell checker (available since ICS).

Hacker’s Keyboard offers no predictions, which might make it less attractive to people who rely on them but would like to have the same fully fledged keyboard for both power and casual use.

Themes and customizability

Hacker’s Keyboard comes with a few themes: Gingerbread, ICS, Stone and Transparent. The keyboard’s size is very customizable, and so are most of its features (to list a few: sent key codes, suggested punctuation, long press pop-up keys; some of these can be very useful when using a terminal or coding on the go). You can also define custom gestures, although the available actions are a bit limited.

Other features

You’ll find all the keys you’d expect to see on your PC’s keyboard (arrows, function keys (F1-F12), Esc key, etc). These are extremely useful when using a terminal app or coding.

Privacy

Minimal permissions are required. Hacker’s Keyboard does not connect to the Internet at all.

Multiple languages

Correcting input and predictions

Privacy

Download

Minuum

Input

Minuum is designed to take the least amount of screen space possible, but you can switch between the full keyboard and the minimized version with ease by dragging the suggestions bar up or down (or by pressing and holding the keyboard with two fingers).

In the full layout, you can type the letters or swipe up from any letter to input its corresponding secondary key (for example, you can swipe up from the “T” key to type “5”, or from the “V” key for “?”). Common punctuation characters can also be chosen quickly by swiping to the left/right from the “.” key, or by double tapping the space bar — all of this makes typing numbers and symbols pretty fast. You can also access a numpad and more symbols by switching to the secondary pane.

When minimized, Minuum only shows you one row of letters, saving a lot of screen estate. All of the above still applies, with the exception of the numpad. Swiping up can also be used to increased accuracy, as it “zooms” the letters in.

Gestures allow you to delete words by swiping to the left, inserting spaces (and completing the current word) by swiping to the right and going to a new line by swiping up and right. Swiping up and left can either activate voice recognition or change languages, depending on your settings.

Auto-spacing is optional and seems to work well in most cases.

Emoji input is supported, although there isn’t a pane for recently/frequently used emoji (however, if you use the experimental emoji bonus panel, recently used ones are displayed first; this adds an extra row to your keyboard but can be toggled dynamically). If you’re using a vendor themed ROM, there is an option to have Minuum use the Noto font for emoji (the default typeface used by Google). Text shortcuts cannot be defined.

Multiple languages

Only a dozen languages are supported at the moment. You can freely change each language’s layout between QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Colemak, Dvorak and alphabetical layouts.

Switching languages is easy: you can either long press the space bar, or swipe up and left if you’ve replaced the voice button by the language button. You don’t need to, though, since you can use multiple languages simultaneously and Minuum will guess which language you need rather accurately (and if not, you can always force the language you want).

Correcting input and predictions

Minuum heavily relies on auto-correction, especially when the keyboard is minimized. It’s surprisingly accurate, too. If you want to correct a word, you can go back to it (the experimental cursor bonus panel helps with that) and select another suggestion. Auto-correction can also be turned off with the tap of a button (“sloppy typing”), allowing you to type whatever your heart desires, be it a series of abbreviations or your special lingo.

While you can import words from the Android user dictionary, there doesn’t seem to be a way to view, edit or remove learned words easily. You can make Minuum forget words by long pressing them in the suggestions pane, though. An option is also provided to learn the names of your contacts.

As for predictions, they seem to be very simplistic.

Themes and customizability

Minuum is very customizable — you can choose from a dozen of themes (some even change depending on the app or time of day), or make your own (however, you can’t specify a background image, only colors).

Other than that, you’re able to modify several features. To list a few, you can enable or disable gestures, get rid of the space bar row when Minuum is minimized and customize the keyboard’s height.

Other features

Other than the ones mentioned above, you can also enable bonus panels to edit the clipboard or to share/search for text you’ve typed.

Compact and floating modes are also available, which respectively let you dock the keyboard to the right or left, or freely move it around the screen and resize it. Unfortunately, there is no quick way to switch between the modes.

Privacy

You can review Minuum’s privacy policy here. An Internet connection is required to download language packs.

Download

Multiling O Keyboard

Input

Typing and swiping are both supported. The tolerance can be configured for each, though they still require more precision compared to other keyboard (especially swiping). Swiping to the space bar between words for continuous input is possible, though it doesn’t seem to work for more than two consecutive words.

Symbols are shown on the main keyboard. You can long press a button or swipe down from it to insert the symbol you want (this works for all secondary characters, not only punctuation), or swipe from the “.” or “,” keys (each shows a different set of symbols; you can customize these symbols as you wish). Typing capitals is done by swiping up instead. The keyboard really makes good use of gestures for quick input.

Several layouts are available (you can even make your own from scratch), and you can easily switch between them at any time by swiping from the space bar. Some of them include a row for numbers, others include arrow keys, etc.

Emoji and text shortcuts are both supported. Add-ons are required for this, and can be installed from the Google Play store or the website. Text shortcuts are defined from the settings screen (a shortcut is to swipe from the gear key to “autotext” on the keyboard). Emoji are separated into several categories (around 30), which can take some time to get used to, but generally makes finding emoji easier. Text emoji and many rarely used symbols are also listed (e.g. ♜ ♘ ♞ ✔ ✓ ✘).

Multiple languages

Language packs are installed from the Google Play store or the website. Switching between them is a breeze, even when you’ve got half a dozen — simply swiping from the space bar can list up to half a dozen languages, allowing you to select any of them easily.

Switching layouts is done in a similar manner, and you can even make your own. Pre-made layouts include QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak, Colemak, Neo, Bépo, several variations of QWERTY, a phone keypad and then some.

Correcting input and predictions

Undoing a correction is done by pressing the backspace button after it is made. To learn a word, you can touch it in the suggestions bar. You can also increase or decrease the rank of any word by long pressing it in the suggestions bar then tapping on the option you want.

Selecting previous words to correct them always moves the cursor to the end of the word the first time you try it. This makes going to a certain character harder than it needs to be.

Arrow keys and cursor control keys are easily accessible in any layout by swiping from the gear button, and might be on the main pane in certain layouts as well.

Predictions are non existent at first, but learn from your typing habits as you go. You can also paste any text you want and have the keyboard learn from it, by swiping from the gear key to “Learn”. Default predictions are customizable and can be used for punctuation, dates, copying and pasting from the clipboard and more.

Themes and customizability

Let’s get this out of the way: this keyboard is ridiculously customizable. Pretty much every aspect of it is: fonts and colors, wallpapers, key layouts, long press contents, and a lot more. Don’t like the available layouts? Make your own, from scratch. Many themes can be downloaded from the website, and you’re able to share the ones you make easily.

This can be overwhelming for many users, but the defaults are very usable and many pre-made themes and layouts are available. The help document also covers most of the keyboard’s aspects.

Let’s say it one more time: ridiculously customizable.

Other features

Transformations can be applied to selected text, allowing you to easily quote text or put it between parentheses. Funky text transformations can also be used to translate text, use full width, exotic or emoji characters, change the case of the selection and more.

Using the phonepad can be used to make and input calculations with ease.

Transliteration is available for some languages. Useful dictionaries such as Linux commands and Hinglish can also be downloaded.

Several other features are also available, but many fall within the “crazy customization” category.

Privacy

Multiling O Keyboard does not have Internet access. Additional languages and add-ons are installed as separate packages.

Download

MyScript Stylus

Input

MyScript Stylus understands your handwriting, and it really is accurate (even without a stylus). Using it is intuitive and works for letters, numbers and symbols, and several gestures are provided to make usage easier (for example, you can go to a new line by swiping down then left).

Unfortunately, that is the only input mode available. It is very useful for language layouts you might not be familiar with (e.g. Arabic) even though you have no problem writing it, but using a traditional keyboard is much faster otherwise.

Text shortcuts and emoji are not supported.

Multiple languages

Several languages are supported, and dictionaries help by providing accurate corrections and suggestions. Switching between languages can be done by tapping the language button, but dual language input is not possible. The layout adapts correctly to RTL languages.

Correcting input and predictions

Correcting input is rather easy — to remove text, you can just scribble it. If you want to replace something, all you need to do is write over it. You can even split words by literally splitting it with your finger, giving you space to write between the two parts, or join them by drawing a bridge between the letters.

Predictions are not supported, and there doesn’t seem to be a custom dictionary for user defined words.

Themes and customizability

Options are provided to modify the text size, color, ink thickness, scrolling speed and baseline position. This allows you to adjust the keyboard for better results, although the looks can’t be heavily customized.

Download

NextApp Keyboard

Input

If Hacker’s Keyboard and the AOSP Keyboard had a baby, it would probably look like this. It’s actually based on the AOSP Keyboard (which means it’s also similar to Google Keyboard in many aspects).

NextApp Keyboard supports both normal typing and gesture typing. The latter requires a compatible binary library, which you can usually find as /system/lib/libjni_latinime.so if you have Google Keyboard installed. Gesture typing is quite accurate. Note that gliding over the space bar cannot be used to separate words.

You can access numbers and symbols by long pressing the top row or tapping the “(+%” button (you can also swipe from this button, which directly switches to the secondary pane). You can also enable a row for numbers from the settings screen or the “mini” configuration pane, without leaving the current application. A pleasing surprise is that doing so actually removes the numbers from the secondary pane completely, and makes all symbols fit on the same page.

You can use emoji and text emoticons by long pressing the Enter key. Emoji you’ve used recently are saved in the first tab. Custom text shortcuts can be defined in the system’s personal dictionaries, as NextApp Keyboard respects that.

Multiple languages

Additional languages can be enabled from the settings menu. Switching between them is done using the language key, or by long pressing the space bar. Simultaneous language input isn’t supported.

Custom layouts can be defined for each language. You can choose from QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Colemak and Dvorak. The PC layout can be toggled at any time from the mini configuration pane.

Correcting input and predictions

Offered corrections are usually accurate, and you can modify the aggressiveness for automatic correction in the settings. If you want to undo a correction, you can press the backspace key right after it is made. The arrow keys also come in handy to move the cursor when correcting mistakes or trying to select text.

The system user dictionaries are used and respected. The transition from the AOSP keyboard and Google Keyboard are seamless, as defined text shortcuts also work out of the box. Adding a word to the user dictionary only requires a tap.

Contact names can be taken into consideration for corrections, if the option is enabled in the keyboard’s settings. Another option allows offensive words, though adding these to your dictionary might have a better effect.

Next word predictions are offered as an option, though they’re not very smart.

Themes and customizability

You can select one of several themes for the keyboard: Holo, Material Design, Flat and seven more. Other customization options are also available, allowing you to modify the keyboard’s size, typeface, behavior for some terminal apps and then some.

Other features

All keys you’d expect to see on your PC’s keyboard (arrows, function keys (F1-F12), Esc key, etc) and Ctrl- combinations are provided. These are extremely useful when using a terminal app or coding.

Privacy

NextApp Keyboard can only download files (for language packs), and does not have full Internet access.

Download

NextApp Keyboard is currently in beta, during which paid features can be tried for free.

SwiftKey

Input

SwiftKey supports both typing and gesture typing (called “Flow”) — the latter is optional and can be disabled in the settings. Flow is very accurate, even when used to input entire phrases without lifting your finger (this is done by passing by the space bar between words).

Numbers and symbols can be seen on the main keyboard and are accessed by long pressing the corresponding key, or by switching to the secondary pane (which offers a numpad for inputting numbers). The secondary pane’s layout is entirely different from the primary pane’s, which may take some time to get used to. Additionally, a numbers row can be enabled in the settings. Common punctuation can also be quickly inputted by swiping left or right from the “.” button.

If Flow is disabled, two gestures can be used: swiping left deletes the previous word, and swiping down hides the keyboard. Otherwise, long pressing the back space key removes the words one by one.

The keyboard supports emoji and offers a tab for recently used ones, although the emoji pane’s scrolling lags noticeably and doesn’t integrate very well with themes. Emoji predictions can also be enabled in the settings screen, which suggests emoji relevant to the word you’re typing (e.g. typing “smile” suggests the smiling face). It is not possible to define text shortcuts.

SwiftKey inserts a space after every word or punctuation. This behavior cannot be modified, and could be annoying to some users.

Multiple languages

You can install and enable additional languages from the settings activity. SwiftKey lets you type simultaneously in up to three languages (you don’t need to switch manually between them).

You can modify this behavior by changing one of the languages’ layout, but it’s not possible to separate the different languages while having them use the same layout.

Correcting input and predictions

Corrections and predictions are excellent, and are what made SwiftKey so popular in the first place. New words are learned automatically. While you can’t turn this off, long pressing a suggestion is enough to make SwiftKey forget it.

Selecting previous words is a bit wonky — pressing the middle of a word to correct it, for example, will move the cursor to its end the first time you do it (tapping again works as intended). This can make correcting a letter slightly more frustrating that it needs to be, but you can get used to it.

An additional row for arrows keys can be added, which can help with positioning the cursor and correcting mistakes.

The Android user dictionary is not used, and contact names don’t appear to be imported.

Themes and customizability

Fifteen free themes come pre-installed with the keyboard. Additional themes, paid and free, can be downloaded from the SwiftKey Store. A few themes put the designers’ skills into serious doubt, but you can also find some good choices.

Other features

SwiftKey Cloud allows you to import new words from sent emails and social networking posts. It also backs your data up and sync it across multiple devices. Finally, it enables “Trending Phrases”, which makes SwiftKey aware of trending expressions for predictions.

You can also choose from three different keyboard modes without leaving the current application, by long pressing the “123” key: “Full” is the traditional mode, “Thumb” splits the keyboard for easier typing with your thumbs, and “Compact” shifts the key to the left or right to make one finger typing easier.

You can also undock and resize the keyboard with the same method as above.

Privacy

You can find SwiftKey’s privacy policy here. An Internet connection is required to download additional languages, themes, and to access cloud related features.

Download

Swype

Input

Swype’s intended input method is, as you might have guessed, swiping, which is pretty accurate. You can also type normally or use handwriting, although handwriting recognition is lacking in accuracy.

Several gestures are available and make swiping much easier. For punctuation, simply swipe from the one you want to the space bar (though this starts inserting spaces before punctuation when you’re trying to input more than one). You can also capitalize any letter by swiping over the keyboard after reaching it.

Swiping from the Swype key to the numbers row also switches to the numpad, allowing you to type numbers with ease. Alternatively, you can long press keys to access secondary characters, or switch to the symbols pane.

Swype does not support emoji or text shortcuts, but there’s a pop-up for text emoticons. You can also swipe over the relevant keys (e.g. “:”, “-” and “(“) and Swype will suggest the correct text emoticon.

Multiple languages

Several languages are supported (but not all can be used for handwriting). Switching between languages is done by long pressing the space bar, but switching back to the last language is as easy as swiping from the Swype key to the space bar. Dual language support is also supported.

You can change each language’s layout to one of the following: QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY.

Correcting input and predictions

A pane with cursor keys and extra buttons for cursor and clipboard control can be used (Swype-“?123″) to make editing and correcting input easier. Swype also tries to suggest smarter corrections when you go back to a word, by looking at the word before and after it.

To learn a new word, you have to tap it in the suggestions bar then tap “Add to dictionary” (you can also set the keyboard to automatically learn new words). Forgetting words is done by long pressing a suggestion. You can also edit the Swype’s dictionary from the settings menu. Importing the Android user dictionary or contact names is not possible.

Next word predictions are optional but fairly simple.

Themes and customizability

A dozen themes can be used with Swype, but you cannot create your own. There are also a few customization options, such as changing the keyboard’s height

Other features

Swype uses its own engine for voice dictation, “Dragon Dictation”.

Optional cloud features allow you to backup and sync learned words, automatically update Swype with trending words, or learn from social networks (Facebook and Twitter) and sent emails.

Additional gestures are provided to select all text (Swype-A), and to copy (Swype-C), cut (Swype-X) or paste (Swype-P) text, as well as launching Google Maps (Swype-G-M) for some reason and searching for the highlighted text (Swype-S). Tapping the Swype symbol also selects the current word, which can be used to easily replace it. Automatic spacing can be disabled by swiping from the Swype symbol to the backspace key — this is useful for compound words.

Privacy

You can find Nuance’s privacy policy here (Nuance is the company behind Swype). An Internet connection is required to download additional languages, to use Dragon dictation, and to access cloud related features. Data collection is optional and you must opt-in for it.

Download

Thumb Keyboard

Input

Typing with Thumb Keyboard is quite comfortable, and the different layouts and key spacing settings can be used to make it fit your needs.

Swiping up, down, left or right can be assigned to custom actions such as deleting words, moving the cursor or bringing up text shortcuts. Sensitivity is configurable as well, should you keep activating gestures by mistake.

Numbers and symbols are shown as secondary keys on the main keyboard, or even as primary keys depending on the used layout. Either long press the relevant key or switch to the secondary pane (“?123″) to input them. An additional row can be toggled at any time from the keyboard, and can be configured to contain special characters and shortcuts (e.g. arrow keys, copy/paste, etc) as you desire.

Text shortcuts can be defined and used from the keyboard. Custom labels can be assigned for each for easy identification. Text substitutions are separate, but also available from the settings screen.

Multiple languages

Switching between installed languages is done by sliding the space bar, after you’ve installed them from the settings activity. Dual language input is not possible.

Available alternative keyboard layouts are QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY.

Correcting input and predictions

Corrections are pretty good. Corrected words are subtly underlined, and the original word you typed is saved and can be easily restored. Backspacing after a correction is made also undoes it.

To teach the keyboard new words, you can tap it twice in the suggestions bar. Removing words from the dictionary can only be done from the settings.

Words from the Android user dictionary and contact names are automatically imported, although text substitutions are not and must be redefined manually.

Next word predictions are sort of available — your typing habits are learned, but only used once you start typing the next word (for example, if you often type “XDA developers”, “developers” will be the first suggestion after you type “XDA d”.

Themes and customizability

Around 25 themes are available (some are built-in, others need to be downloaded). Custom colors, fonts and backgrounds can also be used to modify parts or all of the theme.

Many other customization options are also offered, such as the ability to modify the keyboard’s size, edit secondary symbols, pick different layouts for portrait and landscape, etc.

Other features

Several different layouts can be used: other than the standard layout, you can dynamically switch to large and compact split layouts, giving you direct access to numbers, punctuation or arrow keys. Tablets and phones each have specifically designed layouts.

Privacy

An Internet connection is required to download additional languages and themes.

Download

TouchPal

Input

TouchPal supports both typing and gesture typing (called “Curve”). The latter is optional and fairly accurate.

To input secondary characters (numbers and symbols), you can either long press the primary key or swipe it up or down for the top and bottom rows. Inputting numbers and punctuation is made much quicker by this feature. You can also switch to the secondary pane, which also has a numpad.

The keyboard supports emoji (recently used ones are also stored in a separate tab), “emoji art” (similar to ASCII art, but uses emoji) and text emoticons. You can access the emoji screen by either tapping the emoji button, or by flicking the space bar up. Emoji suggestions can also be enabled, making them come up when relevant keywords are typed (for example, typing “smile” suggests the smiling face). Text shortcuts are not supported.

Multiple languages

You can install extra languages in the settings screen. Switching languages is usually done by swiping the space bar, but this can be configured if you prefer having an extra key for it.

Mixed language input allows each language to have a secondary language for which words are also predicted/corrected from (for example, you could use English and French, and then English and Spanish, as two different layouts).

Correcting input and predictions

Adding a word to the custom dictionary is done by tapping it in the suggestions bar (you can also enable auto saving). To edit or remove a word, you can long press it when it comes up in the suggestions or via the settings screen. The Android user dictionary is automatically imported when you first use the keyboard, and you can also import contact names and have TouchPal learn from messages and Twitter.

You can also access the “Edit” screen, which offers arrow keys and buttons to select text more accurately.

Prediction is optional. It learns from what you type and gets better… if you’re predictable. “Wave” is an interesting feature that puts predictions directly on the keyboard (e.g. “next” appear next to the “n”), and lets you swipe from it to the space bar for faster input.

Themes and customizability

TouchPal comes with two built-in themes and an option to set a custom image as the keyboard’s background. You can download more themes from the TouchPal store (paid and free themes are available).

Additional options can be used to customize the keyboard’s size and font, as well as other minor settings.

Other features

TouchPal lets you choose from three main layouts: PhonePad (T9), Full and T+ (which combines two letters and one symbol on each key). You can do this without leaving the currently opened app. For the Full layout, you can also choose between QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY.

You can pin several buttons to the top bar, which also acts as a suggestions bar once you start typing. These include buttons to quickly access: layouts, the edit screen (offers cursor and clipboard control), themes and more.

Add-ons (currently limited to a custom emoji skin) and sub dictionaries can be downloaded from the TouchPal store. Sub dictionaries add or prioritize jargon (e.g. words related to computers or to the World Cup) or place names (such as Chicago locations).

Word trends are enabled by default, and make your keyboard aware of trending words automatically.

TouchPal Premium ($2.99/year) gives you access to backup and sync features, as well as cloud predictions — smarter predictions from the Internet. A 7-days trial is available.

Download

Summary Table

Note that this table oversimplifies some aspects and completely omits others. It is not meant as a means to compare the different keyboards, but to provide you with a quick idea to see if a keyboard might be suitable for you (for example, if you only want a keyboard that supports emoji, you’ll be able to see which keyboards to check quickly).

February 04, 2015

Within the custom ROM community the biggest heartache caused by Lollipop’s switch from Dalvik to Art was the loss of the incredibly popular Xposed framework. The framework allows developers to create modules which change the way your (rooted) Android device works and looks, and was an all in one solution for modding that took the community by storm. Xposed was created by rovo89 and Tungstwenty and the developers are no doubt working on porting the framework to Lollipop.

Former VillainROM ROM developer HomerSP with a little help from Villain lead Nathan Russell have put together their own framework to work with Lollipop which is currently codenamed ElPollo. Development is still at an early stage but the framework does install and a couple of test modules are also working.

As mentioned so far only one useful module has been created along with a test module, but once HomerSP is happy with progress hopefully module developers will get on board and create many more.

Back in February 2014, I wrote an article about how I did tutorials in a space war game app. The article was "Lessons From Angry Birds: My Thoughts on Android Game Tutorials". The topics covered include game tutorials, engaging users, and gamification. The article has been revised a bit, primarily because the game changed names from "Starship" to "Double Star".
... See https://blahti.wordpress.com/2014/02/24/angry-birds-and-android-game-tutorials/ Continue reading →

January 31, 2015

There already are many solutions on the Google Play store if you want to send a link to one of your devices — but what if you wanted to do it quickly without having to install any software or logging in to a website on the recipient end? Most apps require you to do either or both, which can be a hassle (or even a security risk) in some cases.

Luckily, XDA Forum Member wyemun has developed CaastMe. Inspired by how WeChat and WhatsApp use QR codes, the developer took it up as a challenge to code the website and Android app in less than a day. Don’t be fooled by the short time it took, though, as CaastMe is actually very polished and simple to use.

You probably want to know how it works at this point. After you’ve installed CaastMe, only two steps are actually required:

First, go to http://caast.me/ (this works on desktop browsers as well as some mobile browsers, although you may need to enable the “View desktop site” option if you have any display problems). A QR code will appear on your screen.

From your mobile, share the link you want to CaastMe. This will instantly open your camera, allowing you to scan the QR code. As soon as you do that, you’ll be redirected to the link you just shared.

You can also view the screencast below if you’d like to see it in action. If that’s not enough, you’ll be pleased to know that sharing other data (such as images) is planned for the future.

If you’re looking for a hassle free way to share links that doesn’t involve installing software everywhere or dealing with logins, head over to the CaastMe forum thread now to grab it and give it a try.

January 28, 2015

This is meant to be a living archive of Android presentations, articles, videos, whatever that I've presented, co-presented, written, been a witness to, or simply enjoyed and learned from. People ask for this stuff occasionally ("Where can I learn more about performance tuning on Android?" or "Where can I see more videos of Romain? He's so dreamy, with that almost-real French accent!"), so I thought it would be worth recording the links somewhere where I can add new ones over time as stuff comes online (and delete old ones as they become obsolete).

I'll attempt to categorize things, but there is overlap on these topics. So the studious developer will, of course, watch and read everything. Twice.

The links are presented in rough reverse-chronological order in each section. Some talks date way back to 2010, but they're still relevant today (the advantage of APIs that don't go away...).

General Android Development

Android Developers Backstage (Tor Norbye, Chet Haase, and guests)
Tor and I interview other Android developers to talk about whatever it is that they do to help developers better understand how that stuff works.

Performance

Android Performance Workshop, Part 1 (Devoxx 2013) (Romain Guy & Chet Haase)
This presentation is all about memory on Android: how the system works, things to think about to avoid garbage collection, and tools to use to help detect and debug problems.

Android Tools (Devoxx 2011) (Romain Guy & Chet Haase)
A talk about some of the tools and techniques used for finding and fixing performance problems.

Android Performance Patterns (Colt McAnlis)
This series of videos from Colt helps you understand how things work and what you need to know to write better performing Android apps.

Graphics & Animation

Material Design (Devoxx 2014 keynote) (Nick Butcher & Chet Haase)
This talk is a combination of the design underpinnings of Material Design and some the platform API details for writing Material Design applications on both Android and Polymer.

Material Witness (Devoxx 2014) (Romain Guy & Chet Haase)
A talk about some of the Material Design APIs and techniques in the Android 5.0 Lollipop release, showing how they are used in a couple of sample applications.
This talk overlaps with a talk by the same name at Google I/O 2014, but this version is updated to the final APIs (the Google I/O talk was based on the APIs in the L Developer Preview release).

Material Science (Google I/O 2014) (Adam Powell & Chet Haase)
This is a talk on writing Material Design applications. Some of the API details have changed since this presentation, since it was based on the L Developer Preview release, but the underlying ideas of developing for Material Design is the same.

Curved Motion in Android (Chet Haase)
New APIs in Android 5.0 Lollipop make this much easier (and built into the platform), but this article explains how to use ObjectAnimator and TypeEvaluator to make your animations curve on earlier releases.

Android Graphics and Animation (Devoxx 2010) (Romain Guy & Chet Haase)
Romain and I talk about the general process of rendering Views on Android, graphics APIs for achieving various graphical effects, and the pre-3.0 Animation APIs.

Dive Into Android, Part 1 (Devoxx 2010) (Romain Guy)
Romain talks about the broader concepts of layout on Android, and the various built-in layout classes to use. He then steps through an example of creating a simple custom layout, to explain the process of measurement and layout that such a subclass must handle.

DevBytes (Chet Haase & many others)
It's definitely worth checking out the DevBytes playlist. The content there is diverse, but it's clear to tell from the title whether it's something that you're interested in, and they all provide a quick deep dive into their topic of choice. There are a bunch of videos specific to animation and graphical effects, but there are many more videos on a wide range of Android topics.

January 18, 2015

The latest version of Double Star, an Android space war app, allows you to set game difficulty on the Settings screen. In the EASY game, there are fewer alien starships, and the enemy are less aggressive. Continue reading →

January 09, 2015

I rarely get to write about projects I've been involved with myself so writing this one makes for a pleasant change. For more than a year I've been working as a consultant embedded as a part of a very talented Android design and dev team at Onefootball. Onefootball, an awesome startup based in Berlin, have been developing apps for multiple platforms to bring football (soccer for my American readers) news, statistics and results to their users.

As a company, Onefootball has great ambition to do things right and be the best football app on every platform. This ambition is found from the management to the design and development team. A bit more than a year ago it started to become clear that an Android app wasn't good unless it utilised larger screens as well. That is when I joined the team.

The app is extremely rich with content. The amount of leagues and competitions available to users to browse for is mind boggling. Each of the competitions comes with massive amount of data complete with full season history, match data, team compositions, player statistics for each player and news related to teams and competitions.

Scalable Design

Arranging this amount of information is not easy. Creating responsive UI to accommodate all the different data display variations required us to use multiple different approaches. In this article I want to introduce few of the solutions we used to a create scalable UI that works seamlessly across a broad range if Android devices.

From tabs to columns

A lot of the app's content is split into multiple content sections that exist at the same level of the information hierarchy. On a smaller screen the natural component to use is a tab bar. For example the match screen shows things like the match overview, live ticker, line-up and stats.

Each tab's content is created as a flexible screen that spans the width of the screen on most phone sizes.

To get the match screen ready for larger screens the approach we chose to take was to remove the tabs altogether and show the tabs as columns which forms horizontally scrolling content. This created a display that easily scaled up to any tablet size and utilised the available screen space without feeling like the components information was cramped or constrained by space.

Tabs to tabs

On other screens with a similar structure we went a different way. This was when the content of the tabs itself was nicely scalable and was able to utilise the available screen real estate.

Many screens like the match screen were perfect for this. The content of each tab was already using card-style layouts and simple reorganising the way the cards are laid out in the screen allowed us to utilise the full screen on larger devices.

In some cases we also adapted the content of the cards to limit the amount of information shown when space is more limited. In this case, for example, the number of teams shown in the competition table is only three when on a smaller screen device and on larger screens we can show more. The full table is only a tap away for the users who want the complete information.

Cards are flexible

It's not an accident that a lot of Android apps use card-style visuals to show their content. Cards are easily arranged into flexible layouts and scalable UI forms itself nearly automatically.

Content like news articles with rich visuals and mixed sources create a great opportunity to use staggered list-style approach to create visually pleasing, content rich screens.

In some cases simply arranging the cards wasn't possible. If the cards used are different in size and must maintain strict chronological order using a staggered list is not the right way to display them. For us, the solution was to break some of the cards into smaller content components and show them as a grid.

In some cases the smaller screens displayed the content in a simple list while for larger screens we utilised grid-like layouts. This is something Google advises against in the Material Design guidelines but in this case we decided to break from the guidelines as this created the best possible scalable result.

Viewpager is easy to adapt

Viewpager is a very powerful component. On the team screen we wanted to show recent and upcoming matches.

For smaller screen widths we only show one match and a small slice of the next one to communicate to the users that there's something more just a swipe away.

When there's enough screen width to fit more than one match comfortably we adapt the viewpager to show two or three pages to reveal more information to the user.

Adaptive navigation

In some cases we chose to change the navigation hierarchy slightly when user was on a larger device.

For example in case of the list of matches, we made the selection in the mast screen open a quick view of the match instead of navigating directly to the match page (like it does on smaller devices). This allows users to browse multiple matches more easily while still making it easy to jump into the full match page when the user desires.

On the competition stats detail page we improved navigation between the different stat details on larger screens. Larger screens meant there was empty space on both sides of the list and it felt like a natural place to place quick navigation to the other details pages.

For the competition matchday list we ended up using a dropdown navigation on smaller screens but larger screens have room to show the matchday list on the side allowing user to jump between the matchdays more easily.

User Delight

Going for good app to a great app requires more than just nice scalable UI. You need to delight your users. In case of Onefootball a lot of details were added to the app to push it from being good to great.

In a football app the right place to start making users delighted is the team page. Onefootball app affords each team a fully themed page. A fan of any team will immediately recognise the colour theme and prominent team logo.

The team page was also improved with subtle but meaningful behaviour. The header of the page transforms into toolbar when scrolled. Lollipop's activity transitions were also spot on for this content. The hero element transition is both delightful as well as helpful.

Conclusion

The Onefootball was great fun. Working with a company that wants to do Android right is rewarding. The results are something I can be very proud to have been part of. Elegant Android scalability can be challenging but approaching it the right way makes it possible to get great results. There are pitfalls but they are avoidable. In our case the app ended up being featured multiple times - most recently as the Editor's Choice in the Google Play Store and in the Google's 2014 Best Apps List.

If you are interested in working with the Onefootball to create the best football app ever made I can wholeheartedly recommend the company. Check out their website for open positions here: http://www.onefootball.com/careers.html.

If your company is interested in getting your app built the right way and pushed to the next level don't hesitate to contact us, at Fat Robot. We can help you. We know how to build Android the right way.

December 30, 2014

My conclusion with the RFDuino adventures was that RFDuino is a perfect platform to start familiarizing with the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. BLE programming was made so simple with RFDuino that it provides quick success. Simplification comes with limitations, however, and eventually time has come for me to step further toward a more flexible BLE platform. Bluegiga's BLE121LR long range module seems to have outstanding range but first I tried a piece of hardware that is equivalent from the API point of view with the BLE121LR but is easier to start with and that is Bluegiga's BLED112 USB dongle.

The BLED112 implements the same API (called BGAPI, check out Bluetooth Smart Software API reference) that other Bluegiga BLE modules do but there's no need to buy the pricey DKBLE development board or build any hardware. It plugs neatly into the USB port and is functional without any additional piece of hardware. From the serious BLE application development perspective it has drawbacks too. Firstly, its USB interface is drawing a constant 5mA current so this solution is not very much "low energy". Second disadvantage is that its single USB interface is shared between the BGAPI API and the programming interface so installing scripts into the BLED112 is a risky enterprise. If the script running on the BLED112 occupies the USB port, there's no way to update it so the module is essentially bricked. Hence in this exercise we will keep the BLE application logic on the PC hosting the module and talk to the module with BGAPI. This is very similar setup when the application logic is running on a microcontroller or embedded PC.

In this exercise, we will implement the Current Time Service (CTS) and access this service from an Android application. CTS is a standard Bluetooth service. The PC application will fetch the current time from its clock and will update the characteristic exposed by the BLED112. The Android application will detect the advertised CTS service, connect to it, retrieve the time and display it to the user. The Android application will also subscribe to time changes demonstrating the notification feature of BLE GATT.

Let's start with the PC part. Unpack the cts_example.zip file and inside there are a set of C files belonging to the PC application in the root directory. I developed and tested the application on Ubuntu 14.10 so if you use a similar system, you have good chances that you just type "make" and it will compile. Preparing the BLED112 dongle is more complicated, however and this is the result of the quite cumbersome Bluegiga tool chain. Any change to the GATT services (read this presentation if you don't know what GATT is) requires a firmware update of the BLED112. This sounds scary but it is not too complicated if you have a Windows system. Bluegiga SDK supports only Windows and there is one element of the tool chain, the firmware downloader that does not run on emulated Windows either - you need the real thing. So the steps are the following:

Get the content of the config subdirectory in cts_example.zip and copy somewhere in the Windows directory system. Then generate the new firmware with the <bluegigasdk_install_location>\bin\bgbuild.exe cts_gattBLED112_project.bgproj command. The output will be the cts_BLED112.hex file which is the new firmware. We could have placed application logic into the firmware with a script but as I said, it is a bit risky with the BLED112 so this time the new firmware contains only the GATT database for the CTS service.

Launch the BLE GUI application, select the BLED112 port and try to connect by clicking the "Attach" button. If all goes well, you will see green "Connected" message. Then select Commands/DFU menu item, select the HEX file we have just generated, click on the "Boot into DFU mode" button. One pecularity of the BLED112 that in DFU mode it becomes logically another USB device so the main window will display red "Disconnected" message. Then click "Upload". If the upload counter reaches 100% and you see the "Finished" message, the firmware update is done.

At this point we are finished with Windows and can start the serious business. Plug the dongle into the Ubuntu machine and check out its port.

So this time the dongle is mapped to /dev/ttyACM0. Launch the BLE server with the following command:

./conn_example /dev/ttyACM0

The server is ready, let's see the Android client. Import the Android project in CTS.zip into Android Studio. Note that I am still baffled by the fact that this shiny new IDE does not have a project export command so I had to zip part of the project's directory tree manually. Once you launch the Android application, you will see a screen like this:

The device named "test" is our device and the CTS service is identified by the UUID of 0x1805. The other entry is just another BLE device that I threw in for demonstration. Click on the device name and you get the time emitted by the BLE dongle:

The current time is also updated every second demonstrating that the client successfully subscribed to the changes.

On the server side, it is important to note that the BGAPI protocol is defined in terms of byte arrays sent and received over the serial port (which is mapped to USB in the case of BLED112). The BGAPI support library coming from Bluegiga that I used in this demo is just a wrapper over this interface so it can be replaced with an optimized implementation if the library is too heavy for the application platform (e.g. for a microcontroller) or is not implemented in the desired language (e.g. in Python). On the Android client side, it is interesting to note how the BLE advertisement parser library I presented in this post is used to figure out, whether the device advertises the CTS service we are interested in.

December 14, 2014

In Today’s Tutorial I will help you to make a simple chat application in Android using Google Cloud Messaging. I am using PHP as server side script.

Here are the things you need to follow to make this application.

1. You need to register to Google for GCM.
2. You need a server where your script resides.[We will use our own system as Server in this application].

Please read this before starting with the application
After reading the above link, you will get a API key and Sender ID , which distinguishes your application.
So you will need it in the code, keep it somewhere safe.

You need to change the API Key inside Android source code in the sample Provided below.
Your API Key and SENDER ID will look something similar to this.

Next Go through this link, till step 2 in that page because I have provided the source code below.

The usual flow of a simple GCM application is like this

1. User launches your application for the first time.
2. Your application will call “register” to register with GCM.
3. Google will send you back a “Registration ID” which will be unique for that device.
But beware these “Registration ID’s” will change when you update the application or reinstall it after uninstalling. So don’t use it to uniquely identify a user. A username/password combination or a Phone Number usually does the trick.

4. The device gets the “Registration ID” and store it locally, so that the device don’t need to register again each time the user run the
application.
5. Send this registration ID to your server and Store it there along with a unique identifier for the user. [Here we will use ‘username’ for the time being].
6. When the user taps send message button you need to call a server side script that will communicate with GCM server which will
send this message to corresponding device.
ie. User taps the button -> send the device_reg_id and message to your server -> send these parameters from your server to GCM
-> GCM send the message to Device identified by reg id.

So I am not going to paste the whole code here.
You can directly download it from below links

Here I have used a simple database structure for simplicity.
I am using username for identifying each user.

You need to make the same structure for the below sample to work.

For Server Side I am using XAMPP for Mac.
You can download the Server side source code and put it inside htdocs folder inside XAMPP/Applications.

Start your servers.

Please check the Screenshot below.

Then Go to your browser and type “localhost”. if your server is running, then you will see “phpMyAdmin” Page.

For testing it in your system and in your device, Both should be in the same network, for example : both should be in the same WIFI netwrok of your home.
Please type “ifconfig” for Mac in terminal and check inside “en0″ or “en1″ to get your sytem IP. For Windows type “ipconfig”.

Before running the application change the “IP” in the Utils file.

I am not going to the Android source code because Complete source is already provided.

How to test?

1. Change the API Key and Sender ID in the application.

2. Make sure server side is set up. copy php code to your local server as described above.
Make sure you have sql tables set up.

3. Make sure your servers are running.

4. Your testing devices and Your server should be on the same network, otherwise you have to host an online server. You can use the Emulator also as one device, but it should be an emulator with “Google Play Services”. Android 5.0 is good to go.

5. Change the IP address in “Utils.java” to your system IP address.

Please leave your comments if you have problems understanding the above article.

November 20, 2014

Let me tell you that first of all the Droid Turbo's definitely amazing phone. I personally was going to hold up the Nexus 6 but then I got cold feet and decided to pull the trigger on this phone and have not been disappointed. So far the battery is definitely the most impressive feature. Basically the Nexus and the Turbo are basically the same they have the same processor the Nexus has the ISO camera clocking in at 13 megapixels and the turbo has a 20 megapixel camera with no ISO however coming from a G2 the pictures are definitely fine and dandy. The screen is extremely awesome except that YouTube for some god awful reason doesn't have 1440p or 1080p support which is super annoying. Another thing that I would like to point out about the turbo is it the battery literally is incredible I would definitely consider myself a power user in this phone easily and I mean easily last a day and a half to two days there have been several times where I fell asleep without charging my phone woke up with 20 percent and it got me through about 10 hours or so but that's with me probably only being on it for about an hour but even still that's impressive. The battery is good now so we can only imagine what kind of improvements will see when lollipop rolls out which I'm hoping will be soon the camera should also improve with that considering google rolling out their new API for photography. Overall I'd say that between the Nexus and the turbo its more of just if you want a 6 screen or 5.2 inch screen. If you have any questions or concerns please feel add comment on this post and I will get back to you soon as possible thank you for reading

November 16, 2014

I’ve put off the real first look post on this camera until I had the finished product in my hands. I did have a video and post ready to go after the Double Exposure event. I didn’t post it, not because the hardware and software were bad, but because they weren’t finished. Seeing an unfinished product doesn’t help anyone decide to buy said product.

Before I continue, it should be noted this is only after a few hours of owning it and a bunch of sampling. A full review will be forthcoming. I’m having some fun with it so far, so let’s see what this little thing is all about.

I felt it was my duty to pick up the blue Re. I am a Maple Leafs fan after all! It almost matches my Reimer sweater. It measures a hair under four inches tall, an inch and a half between the edge of the lens and the edge of the capture button and the barrel diameter is 3/4 of an inch wide (Metric: ~10 x 3.81 x 1.905cm). There are only two buttons, a shutter button and a slow motion button. The micro-USB for charging and micro-SD slot are both on the bottom.

I purchased a 32GB card for the Re, as 8GB isn’t a hell of a lot for video. I’m not sure yet how I’ll be using this, but there are some truths that always apply: You can never have enough SD cards and it’s better safe than sorry. Changing the card involves removing the waterproof cover, giving the card a push and pulling it out. In practice this isn’t a lot of fun. The cover is continually in the way as it’s tethered to the bottom of the camera and the card doesn’t eject far enough for me. Tweezers would have helped, but I got it eventually.

Sample Photos

Rather than make a usual gallery I’m going to post a couple and talk about them a bit. Context is important in this part.

Normal Stills

It seems a little hit and miss here. The first photo is the Re taking a picture of the live view on my HTC M8. That one came out a bit fuzzy and off. The latter, however, is of acceptable quality. If you’re expecting full frame or APS-C quality out of a camera with a f/2.8 16 megapixel sensor, prepare to be disappointed.

Ultra Wide Angle

Of the last two photos, one is with wide angle and one isn’t. Can you guess which one? This ultra wide angle setting was something I was eager to test and left me wanting in the end. All my test shots leave a huge fisheye effect on the photo. The picture of the bench seat shows just how exacerbated it can be. In the Re app, it is possible to turn a wide angle shot into a regular shot, but something curious happens there:

It is actually named “defisheye”. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. I’m saying know what’s going on here with the wide angle shots. There are surely some really creative people out there who could use this to their artistic advantage. That or make every iPhone bend…

Video

I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t admit my stupidity here. I never turned ultra wide angle off before I shot this video. I’ll do a proper comparison for the full review, but the big takeaway here (aside from dat fisheye) is the audio is actually quite good. The microphone is essentially a pinhole affair atop the camera. As I walked through those crisp New York Autumn leaves, you can hear the crunch really well. I’m not disappointed at all with the Re video functionality.

I realize there is a lot missing here. It is important to remember this is not the full review. This is playtime for us, and in a week or so of actually using the Re properly there will be much much more to say. Stay tuned for that fun!

Time after time I keep running to this same issue: hardware companies don't get Android. Companies building expensive products are either completely failing in their mobile app strategy across the board or put all their efforts to their iOS app effectively making their Android apps an afterthought.

But what does it matter as long as it works (on some level)?Trust. It's all about trust.

I simply don't trust companies who don't seem to care about Android users. I've been burned too many times before. And I don't think I'm the only one.

Because of past bad experiences my shopping decision now includes looking up the Android app of the product I'm considering purchasing and seeing if it looks like an Android app and if it seems to be built the right way (scalable, uses notifications correctly, etc basic Android platform knowledge).

If I see things like use of the menu-button-of-shame, strange notification use, use of iOS UI components or UI structure etc. I know that the company is not regarding Android as a first class citizen in their own ecosystem.

When the platform I'm using is clearly at the end of the priority queue of the company whose products I'm considering buying it tells me few things based on my past experience. The UX of the mobile app is likely to be subpar. I'm likely going to get a feature limited version of the software and all new and improved features are going to arrive to me much later than if I was using iOS. Still... I'm paying the same price for the hardware product.

I simply do not trust that the device is worth the money if the company doesn't think that it's worth their time to look into the most used mobile platform of the world.

No thank you!

Cross-platform disasters

Some companies building high-end (or at least expensive) products like BOSE seem to be completely failing to understand the importance of creating mobile user experiences. With their SoundTouch Controller (iOS) product they seem to have gone the route of ignoring all platforms and build an app with some cross-platform tool and the results are as expected.

There's no way I'll put my money into your product if you don't understand how to build mobile apps. It might be that use of the mobile app is just a secondary way of controlling the system and "an additional feature" but if this is the quality of your product I doubt I'll enjoy the rest of it either!

iOS-first (only?) approach

Now, this might be justified on some level but there's limits. Making hardware that talks to mobile devices is difficult. Bluetooth as a technology sucks big time but that's unfortunately what we have to use (at least for now). It probably makes sense for companies to pick the largest segment of their market to target first when building software to their hardware which is relatively standards and least fragmented.

After the start I'd expect to see the Android support added relatively quickly. It's a massive market. Let's say that you decide to target just couple of the top-end Android phones in the first iteration you will likely target a very similarly sized audience. While you might encounter some issue with some devices you can start ironing out the issues one-by-one.

But seeing something like this in an online store of bleeding edge hardware maker a year after the device release causes problems. As customer shopping in the Runtastic store this makes me pause. I will think twice buying any of the hardware that is compatible with Android as I'm not sure where my platform fits in their corporate strategy?

In case of Runtastic this becomes even worse. With Runtastic I'm not only buying their hardware to use. I'm also buying into their ecosystem. I'll be uploading my info to their systems, using their exercise apps and so on. If I subscribe to their ecosystem will I be treated on the same level as people using iOS devices?

Direct iOS ports

Then there's something that I don't understand at all. This should never be done by anyone. A company that takes time to make their hardware compatible with Android but for some unfathomable reason decides to port their iOS app directly to Android without looking into Android platform guidelines, UX etc. I cannot understand how this still happens in 2014.

Building Android apps right way is much easier than trying to make your apps look and function like iOS apps. Still. Some companies insisting doing this in the way we in Finland call "climbing a tree ass first" ("perse edellä puuhun).

Parrot's Flower Power is an interesting product that monitors how your flowers are doing. But what they've done with their Android app is beyond belief. It is a 1-to-1 direct port of their iOS app. From the minute you open the app on your Android device you feel like it is not built for you.

The app uses iOS bottom tabs which immediately make the app navigation not functional when combined with the Android back button. It's also style-wise mostly just confusing to all Android users. Tabs in screens don't work as expected (where's my swipe gesture), the whole font throughout the app is strange, it's full of custom controls that don't belong to the platform and they've even implemented features that you really don't need to implement on Android as the platform gives them to you for free. And top of everything the app is, of course, locked into one orientation (a sure tell that the design is not flexible).

I simply cannot understand what made them to do this? Are there no Android users in the company management? Is there no designers using Android at all in the company? This app is very confusing, ugly and doesn't belong on Android. There's no way I will buy hardware that is supported this poorly on my platform.

iOS-only marketing

Another thing with hardware manufacturers that I fail to understand is the lack of Android presence on their websites. Maybe the most striking example of this is Parrot Zik 2.0 website. Take a look at the site. Would you imagine that you could use the headphones with Android as well? On the surface no. Every single image on the site is an iPhone running their software. There's even sentences like "They are made for iPhone, iPod, iPad.".

Scanning the Parrot website for compatibility there's, in fact, exactly one mention of "Android" and it is this: "Free app compatible with smartphones running on iOS, Android".

Anyone wanna take a guess how good their Android app is?

This $400 headset comes with a companion app that looks like absolute crap. It's, of course, exact clone of the iOS app but in this case it's bad on both platforms.

The app is locked on in portrait on phones and to landscape on tablets. It also fails in some very basic UI design things like using margins and alignment. It also has reinvented all the controls.

The best of all it has a menu-button-of-shame. This is such a direct proof that this app was built without any knowledge of the Android platform.

The app also immediately adds a persistent notification to your status bar when you open it. The notification content simply baffles me. And maybe not a big surprise that the notification's priority is set incorrectly so it's always fully visible.

There's a lot more I could point out in the app as issues but I think I've made my point. Do I want to pay $400 for headphones if this is the quality I can expect? Hell no!

Crowdfunding projects

Kickstarter and indiegogo are both full of tech projects looking for funding. More often than not you see these small startups fighting for funding completely fail to understand that platform differences matter. You see pitches in Kickstarter that claim support for iOS and Android but they only show iOS devices in their campaign page (or even worse, some strange abominations like below).

As Android community, we're already getting burned very often by large manufacturers and it's making us careful. When you choose to show only iOS devices on your campaign page it tells us that if I back your project I'll likely have to wait for features iOS users will get earlier. Personally, I'm not backing projects like that anymore.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Android users don't spend money. iOS users are where the money is. - You've probably heard this statement before. If this is true you can hardly blame the manufacturers for putting their efforts into iOS and then doing something half-arsed to tick the box for having an Android app later if they get around to it.

I would not be surprised if this attitude in the industry was the cause for Android users not spending the money to these products. It's quite natural. If you show that you don't care about my UX I'm not going to give my money to you.

If you think that Android users would not buy your products maybe the fault lies with you and not with Android users? Are you creating products worth buying? Can you really afford to ignore 80% of the potential market?

Conclusion, TL;DR

This post turned out to be a bit more whiny than I intended it to be but I think the point becomes clear. While in many areas Android has finally became a first class platform in hardware companion apps there's a lot of space for improvement.

While there are hardware manufacturers who are already pushing quality of their mobile software they're more of an exception than a rule. I see this as a lot of unused potential. A manufacturer doing their Android apps right can differentiate positively from the crowd. Any takers?

October 31, 2014

Ever wanted to see a dinosaur jump over a cactus? No, well me either but Google has made it into a game of sorts. The new easter egg in chrome beta allows you to play that game. Just turn on airplane mode, go to the chrome beta, type in google.com, and click on that dinosaur.

Warning: My phone opens chrome beta in quite a weird way I am using a oneplus one with mahdi rom but I wanted to show off the easter egg anyways.

October 07, 2014

Another update went live in the market last night. This one fixes various issues introduced in the last update, but the biggest change is to add a hard difficulty to the tech mine.

Hard levels are variations on the normal set, but… harder. In some cases this just means that there are fewer ores, but in others there are subtle differences, large layout changes or even objective changes in place. If it is popular I’ll try and do the same for the rainforest pack.

You can also now play tech mine in freeplay mode (although there is a bug that means you need to go into the mission pack level select screen first, otherwise you’ll get a crash when starting the level – this will be fixed in the net update).

Other changes:

– Fixed visibility beaneath miner when near an edge (the tile beneath you now reveals where approaching an edge)
– Fixed pro/extreme difficulty mix up
– Made objective stars harder to click accidentally
– Improved some menu layouts
– Fixed some bugs in the map screen
– Fixed signs not appearing
– Fixed harold short changing you when he buys multiple items
– Fixed various bugs with photography in tech mine
– Performance improvements

September 28, 2014

Last month, we brought you a review of the MG, an Android powered handheld gaming system designed for casual games. The combination of vanilla Android and the MG’s custom parental controls made the device a compelling option for gamers young and old alike, and its comparatively low price combined with the vast Android software library offered an unbeatable value.

The team behind the MG had obviously done their homework and targeted the product to a very specific market which was otherwise being ignored. Rather than throwing out a half-realized device that didn’t resonate with any particular use case, the team engineered the hardware and software experience to their target audience to great effect.

Taylor Cavanah

To learn more about the focus and vision which made the device a reality, we got in touch with MG’s physicist turned meta-gamer Taylor Cavanah.

Creating the MG

The Powerbase: Taylor, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Can you start by telling our readers a bit about yourself and your background?

Taylor: I’m a physicist and started my career in Nanotechnology at Zyvex. After finding some success in developing the nanoprobing market for the semiconductor industry I decided to strike out on my own. My buddies and I started our own software company – Locai – and a year ago we combined forces with the hardware and business guys from ACTScom to launch PlayMG.

The Powerbase: What exactly is your role at PlayMG? What are your day to day responsibilities like?

Taylor: My specific role involves game/app design, platformsoftware design, business development, innovation, and as is the case with all start ups – many more roles. Day to day I was either talking with game houses, working with the hardware guys to design the user experience, writing the story behind our game within the gaming device app Origins, looking for interesting apps to work with, working with marketing to craft the messaging behind these features we were building, and testing devices in every possible way.

The Powerbase: PlayMG has no qualms about the fact it has targeted the MG to younger gamers. Why do you think the younger gamer is so important? What makes the MG a better option than, say, mom’s old smartphone?

Taylor: Every one has a slightly different opinion on this but for me the younger gamers make the most sense because they can’t have phones. Whether their parents don’t want them or can’t afford the data plans, there are a lor of younger gamers who love apps but can’t get access to them. The “hand me down” argument is definitely valid. I can hand down my phone and just remove the plan and then they have a smart device. That’s where our added benefits factor in to the equation. You can’t get Family Collaboration, SpendSmart, or the Origins game in a hand me down. And sometimes more importantly, you can’t get that “awe” moment when your son or daughter opens up your repackaged device from 2 years ago.

Android and the MG

The Powerbase: Its differences aside, the majority of the MG’s software is straight Android. Would it be safe to say that, if it wasn’t for the open nature of Android, the MG wouldn’t exist in its current form? Would have putting this same hardware out with a proprietary operating system have gotten you as far as Android has?

Taylor: There is no way we would exist without Android. The barrier of entry previously was just too high. We got a solid and awe inspiring product to market in 9 months. Core to that was not having to build an entire OS. Not just in terms of getting something to market but that greatly helped us focus our time and money where it mattered – on the added benefits like Family Collaboration and Origins. This is what I love about open source – you get to make products with extremely well designed experiences where it matters.

The Powerbase: One of the biggest selling points early on was that the MG would be a vanilla Android device, meaning it would be as close to AOSP as possible. In the end the MG delivered on that promise, and is one of the few non-Nexus devices available running stock Android. Why was running stock Android so important for the MG?

Taylor: Part of that answer has to do with my previous answer – it’s just easier to not build stuff you don’t need. I think everyone can point to some larger companies that have large engineering staffs that have to build stuff because those salaries are being spent no matter what. Then you get a lot of customization away from stock. But most of that is useless and provides no value to the customer experience. A lot of engineers also like the job security that building all of this custom stuff gives them. They will always be needed because only they know how this version of flavored Android operates. For us it was exactly that overhead that we didn’t want. If we build our own flavor of Android then every new app or platform we create down the road has to take that into account. We had to keep our focus on what mattered for the end user.

The Powerbase: From a development perspective, stock Android is generally preferable to manufacturer modified builds, but what about the end user? It’s no secret that the most popular Android devices (such as Samsung’s Galaxy line) make use of manufacturer modifications to their interface and applications, so the public doesn’t seem to mind. Do you ever worry that shipping with stock Android rather than a build with more visual flair and streamlined functionality pleases the developers at the expense of the end users?

Taylor: I have never believed that popularity of a device has anything to do with how well it is designed or received by customers. The large software guys have proven time and again that being big in a space and having a ton of money can make up for a lot of deficiencies. I say this because I don’t believe customers buy the Galaxy line because of the manufacturer improvements – most customers have never seen stock Android so they don’t know any better. My guess is the commercial bashing the iPhone (hilariously with the parents in line) did a lot more than the user experience. From what I’ve seen all of the added modifications make little difference to the real end users (not us tech types who are too deep in the space). We found you could do an amazing amount of things just using the widget system in Android to change the user experience – without huge teams to build and then manage modifications.

The Powerbase: Some would say that shipping the device with vanilla Android only makes sense if it’s kept up to date with AOSP (such as the Nexus line), but the MG is still on 4.0.4. Why hold the MG back? Are there plans on updating to Jelly Bean (and beyond)?

Taylor: We will update to Jelly Bean. But with such a low saturation of Jelly Bean and many apps still not upgraded for the experience it doesn’t make sense to expend the effort. Again we’ve got to focus on that end user experience and the only people ever asking for Jelly Bean are analysts or the random parent who just saw some article that mentioned the new Jelly Bean thingy for Android.

Expanding Android Gaming

The Powerbase: One of the best features of the MG, at least for parents, is unquestionably the Family Collaboration System. While it currently sets the MG apart from the competition, would PlayMG consider bringing it to generic Android devices? Perhaps charging a monthly subscription fee when used on non-MG hardware?

Taylor: We are always weighing the pros and cons of releasing some of the proprietary apps to the Play Store. Right now we only have to manage one device, we get to ignore fragmentation, and we have a competitive advantage. I don’t see us releasing the apps until we are much more established.

The Powerbase: An advantage of putting out an Android based gaming system is, of course, that you aren’t responsible for developing or publishing games for it (unlike traditional game consoles). That said, are there plans to talk to developers about MG optimized games? Is that already happening?

Taylor: Nothing that I can talk about but we definitely have plans and some preliminary talks about using our PlayMG IP to create games. Any game developers interested (especially if they want to do something outside of the normal bounds of gaming) should get in touch with us.

The Powerbase: You can’t talk about Android gaming anymore without mentioning the OUYA; while it’s aiming for a completely different market than the MG, are there any parallels you draw between them? Do you see families owning both devices in the future?

Taylor: Mine arrives in 3 weeks (if I had more time and money I would have gotten a developer version). I would love to work with OUYA in the future and I do believe that console gaming and portable gaming will always be with us. Where the hardware, software, and interfaces end up who knows but for now there are many opportunities that could be explored between the two companies. For the next year though I’m guessing both of us will be too busy to pursue them.

Looking Ahead

The Powerbase: A common criticism of the MG is that it lacks physical controls. This was a design decision based on the intended userbase for the MG, but it’s also undeniable that there are hardcore gamers out there that would appreciate an MG-like device with physical input. Is this a challenge PlayMG might take up in the future? Perhaps a device like the Sony Xperia Play, but in a non-contract form like the MG?

Taylor: I don’t see that happening. Our target user is not hardcore and in fact probably did not grow up with a game system that had controllers. But at an even deeper philosophical level (get ready for the fan boy to come out) I think the portable gaming systems with controls aren’t just missing the mark but don’t really have a mark to hit. Portable gaming is about the casual experience on the go or that little block of entertainment that you carry around in your pocket. I have so many different serious game devices where I can have mind blowingly immersive experiences – but that’s not what you want in a portable gaming device. At the end of the day we talked to a bunch of “gamers” in our demographic and they wanted a device they could put in their pocket versus a device that let them play games designed for pre-touch devices.

The Powerbase: If it’s not giving too much away, what can you say about the future of PlayMG and the MG itself? Anything current or future owners should be looking out for?

Taylor: We have some great plans for the Family Collaboration System – making it much more collaborative. A lot of parents and even kids have asked for expanded features here. I’m most excited about expanding the portable fun in the device. The entire industry as a whole is barely scratching the surface of what you can do with portable gaming. We have some very interesting things planned for making shared portable gaming experiences like no one has seen before. Unfortunately I can’t say much more than that.

Thanks to Taylor and the entire PlayMG team for their assistance and professionalism while we worked on the original hardware review and this interview. We’re very interested in seeing where the future takes PlayMG, keep an eye out here on The Powerbase for future coverage of this unique company and its products.

Free Console??? Yep!

PlayMG, a company dedicated to Android game consoles and safety online, wants to give one lucky Powerbase reader a PlayMG Android game console. What is a PlayMG? Well, we spent some time with the device several months ago. You can read our impressions here.

August 23, 2014

All is on track for the release of the tech mine expansion pack tomorrow. Even if you don’t play the missions, there are plenty of changes to look forward to in the update (these affect the whole game, not just the new levels):

much quicker level generation and startup

you can now check objectives when outside of the camp by tapping on the stars in the corner

subtle character animations added, such as blinking

the cracks created when digging have been redrawn and have more stages, so you get more feedback when digging tough ground

lots of sprites retouched or redrawn

added a small element of randomness to the digging, so it doesn’t always take the same number of hits for a particular ore

less memory usage, less battery usage, better performance

removed annoying bat poop sound

lifts arrive slightly faster

added more detail to the map screen

silenced the low health warning when on the surface

fixed restart logo sometimes appearing in wrong ratio

fixed character “running on the spot” when returning to the game

fixed the characters in a conversation sometimes disappearing rather than sliding in/out

fixed a bug where the map markers could appear in the wrong location

fixed the saving spinner hanging around when it shouldn’t when in the shop or camp

fixed progress on hidden objectives animating when it shouldn’t

fixed an odd fade effect when stepping up a block that causing colour wierdness

July 17, 2014

Freesat, the vague organisation behind those TV tuners that let you get satellite TV without paying Sky any money, now has an official Android app. On a basic level it’s an EPG to tell you what’s on over the next seven days, although viewers with one of the more recent Freetime set-top boxes can pair it with their tuners and use their phones and tablets as remote controls — also triggering recordings from afar.

It is therefore quite useful if you can get it to sync and work. Check out the Freesat app here.

June 17, 2014

After way too much time as a US-only exclusive and with the phone it pimps to the extreme already starting to show its age, Motorola’s finally ready to launch the Moto Maker customisation service for the Moto X in Europe.

According to Motorola Germany, the case modding service will launch exclusively for those who buy a phone through Phone House in the country. Phone House is the German wing of Carphone Warehouse, so here’s hoping CPW picks up the deal and launches the custom phone option here in the UK too.

This could be the answer to the tricky “eccentric summer phone” problem we currently face. As long as it’s cheap.

May 18, 2014

March 30, 2014

Maverick 2.6 is just released with map tiles downloader. You can “paint” areas to download with one finger or select a rectangle block using multi-touch. Select on the left all zoom levels you want to download. Tap and hold to select at once all zoom levels up to the selected level.

February 28, 2014

Since a few months I’m working on an Android book based on the popular Android online tutorials from my website.

On thing I learned in the past about book writing is that the process is extremely painful. Creating a consistent and almost error free description is much more work than publishing a good online tutorial. Fortunately I already have a great team of reviewer for the book, so I have high hopes that this book will be of great quality.

I plan to release early access versions of the book via Kindle and Google Play. This release process should start soon.

I want to add every month a new chapter and people which purchases the early access version can update their books. This process will continue until I finish the electronic book. The final book will be available as paper book and as ebook.

February 24, 2014

Photos of the galaxy S5 leaked today, and let me tell you, I am not very impressed as far as the visuals go. This is a link to an albumsomeone leaked today. The device itself doesn't look very impressive. The bezels are bigger than the S4, although the screen is bigger. A 2800mah battery with a rumored 2K screen is going to be a battery killer. The LG G2, came out 6 months ago and has a bigger battery than that, come on Samsung. I fear Samsung is falling into the same boat as Apple. Small subtle improvements each year, knowing that people will buy it because its "The Galaxy S5". I don't want that. I want something I pull out of my pocket, and people say "wow what's that!!!" Not, oh you have a galaxy? We're entering a time where phone manufacturers are all trying to make the next new fad (watches, fitbits, glasses) and unfortunately I don't see this being one of them, even though it will be. comment below on what you think about the S5!

February 08, 2014

Some time back I wrote an article describing the roosearch system I developed using grails. This is the second part, the android client, please checkout the previous article otherwise this might not make much sense! After completing the grails component, I had a RESTful API available to me, and I just needed to build an […]

January 21, 2014

I recently retired, but I have one more little tip to blog about. While I have a few ideas for some apps, I doubt that I’ll have to do the kind of intensive problem solving required during my job. Therefore this might be the last post.

I was involved with a suite of clients for business intelligence. The primary clients were created with Adobe Flex and ran in the browser. They provided for creating and viewing reports. The iOS and Android clients provided for viewing reports. Thus features were implemented in the Flex product first, and we who supported the mobile clients had to cope with adding them. The feature relevant to this blog entry was the ability to specify numerous scaling options for images (e.g. photos) that could be incorporated into reports. Some of these scaling options had no natural analog to the Android scaling options for images.

To support the requirement for panning and zooming images I took full advantage of the PhotoView library provided by Chris Banes. This library was a great solution for all but two of the required scaling options. Our product allowed for two rather silly options of fitting an image to the width or to the height of the viewport that the report designer drew on screen. If the other dimension of the image was greater, then part of the image would be invisible. I had to provide support for letting the user drag the image around in the viewport so that all of it could be seen.

The PhotoView library would have handled this except for the fact that we needed to set the scale type on the ImageView class to MATRIX, and PhotoView does not allow that. With no natural analogous scaling type to our “fit width” and “fit height”, I had to create a new subclass of ImageView to handle just the images requiring those types. The ReportImageView class has some code for doing the scaling needed to fit height or fit width, but I am leaving that out here so as to concentrate on the drag support.

The salient features are 1) make a new VersionedGestureDetector using the class provided in the PhotoView library, 2) implement the onDrag() method of the OnGestureListener interface. In onDrag() make a new matrix and post-translate it to the coordinates supplied, then set that as the image matrix.

When the scale type is “fit width” the user can drag the image up and down if the height is greater than the width. When the scale type is “fit height” the user can drag the image left or right. If you get such oddball requirements for images, try this solution.

December 07, 2013

Continuing on from my previous post, I’ve created an android client that I can use to send commands to my python server. Ultimately I want to be able to control the robot remotely, the best way to do this would be to control the robot from a tablet or a phone which communicates wirelessly with […]

November 15, 2013

Yes, here is another article about moving or dragging a view with a finger, but I think I can give a complete example in one place. Most of what I read while developing a movable component did not give a fully working result. I started with the article on making sense of multitouch at the Android developers’ blog. Then I had to go search at Stackoverflow. I give some of those references in the code comments.

I had a requirement to provide a magnifier view, or jeweler’s loupe, which would provide a magnified view of a graph as the user dragged the view over the graph. The magnifier would become visible on a long press and stay visible while the user dragged it over the graph. The frame of the magnifier would display the magnified contents as provided by a helper method (not described here). Here’s a rough example from my testing app.

magnifier example

It shows a small bitmap (unmagnified in this test) and some bogus tooltip values to the right of the image. When this magnifier is dragged over the image (i.e. a real graph), the magnified area will update as will the tooltip information.

Let’s look at the code. Here’s the touch listener for the magnifier. It requires that the magnifier (a RelativeLayout) be passed in on the constructor.

Here is the first important point. At line 29, we see that the magnifier will initially jump from the touch point because the touch event streams relative and absolute coordinates. Prevent this by setting the aPosX and aPosY fields to the initial X and Y coordinates of the frame.

Next, look at line 76 in the case for ACTION_MOVE. The multitouch example from the Android developers’ blog would have us remember the touch position. However that causes problems, as described in the citations from Stackoverflow, so don’t remember the last touch point. If the distance moved is greater than the touchSlop (line 71), just go ahead and move the frame (lines 85 and 86).

With these two modifications to the code shown in the multitouch example you should be able to happily drag a view around to your heart’s content.

October 25, 2013

I don't envy conference organizers these days - most of what's being said can be read the next day, for free, on line, at your own pace, from the comfort of your own home, and without spending a bundle of time and money to sleep in a far away hotel.

Competing with that is not easy, but the guys at MicroConf managed to. I would sum up the weekend by saying that it was a "very high bandwidth experience". Every day, from breakfast until I turned in, I was chatting with people or listening to speakers during the conference itself. That's aproximately 16 hours of being "on", and by the time I got home to Padova, I was exhausted! But at the end of the day, I felt like it was worth it being there in person, because of all the interaction with other people. The speakers' talks all ended up on line, more or less, but all the chatting and discussion and getting to know everyone is the human element that is tough to replicate on line, and one of the most important reasons to attend a conference in person. Prague is also a beautiful city - I wish I had had more time there to check it out.

Here are some highlights and notes, in no particular order:

Rob Walling talked about actual, concrete numbers when discussing his current project's revenues. There's a ton of handwavy stuff out there on the internet, but real numbers are tough to beat. What makes it especially nice is that they also felt "real": they're good numbers, no doubt about it, but not stratospheric, science fiction numbers that leave you feeling like "ok, whatever, but that's not the planet I live on". They're numbers that make you think "maybe, if things go well, I could do that too".

The number of "I'm from X, but live in Y" people at the conference was high. Irish but live in Spain, American but live in Japan. Or maybe just noticeable because I'm in that category myself. There were people attending from the US, Europe, Japan, South Africa, and even Australia. Impressive!

Almost all of the speakers had very specific, concrete advice that I can and will apply to LiberWriter, time permitting. I read, and have read, a lot of business books. Most of them are kind of fluffy, truth be told, in that they've got one decent idea, and a lot of filler to turn what could have been a tight, ten-page article into a book. This was quite different in that there were a whole lot of tips and tricks being thrown out.

Rob's wife Sherry gave a talk about life with an entrepreneur. Having two kids and a wonderful wife myself, it's a point of view that I was very interested in hearing about. Judging from the people I chatted with, this was not your typical "startup" conference with a bunch of 20-somethings with no family and no ties - a lot of the other people attending had kids to think about as they launch their ventures. A question I asked of Rob was how much of a leap he took from consulting to working on his own products, with the answer being that he's actually pretty risk adverse. No Silicon Valley story about betting the house and everything else on the company - apparently, revenues from the web sites and products were good enough that there wasn't even really a leap to make when he quit consulting.

The size of the conference was just right: enough people that I didn't quite manage to meet everyone, but not so many that it was overwhelming. In downtime between talks, and during dinners, breakfasts, lunch and so on, the speakers were very available to chat with.

Patrick McKenzie seems to have stumbled into his life's calling as someone working at the border of software and marketing. The amount of advice, anecdotes, and data that he was continually spinning off was incredible. He comes across as being a down-to-earth, approachable, friendly person.

Part of the balancing act the organizers have to work with is where people are at: some people had an idea but no concrete business. Some of us (me) make some money but not too much. Others have viable businesses that they make enough to live off of, and then there are those who seem pretty much 'set'. It's difficult to find people to speak to each audience without losing some of the others.

The thing I liked the most about a lot of what was discussed was that it seems realistic. Few people at the conference were from Silicon Valley, and yet... they're successful! I like hearing about success stories that work out really well for the people involved, but still feel like something attainable. People should be looking to emulate the successful guys here, not looking at extreme outliers like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg.

I'm used to tech conferences, where it's all about the technology. There was very little actual tech talk at MicroConf - it seems like everyone knows their stuff and was interested in learning about marketing, sales, and so on.

However, since it was a business conference, I also have to put on my cold, hard accountant hat. Will the conference pay for itself? Only time will tell. I learned a variety of interesting and useful things, many of which I think I can put into practice. The problem is finding the time between consulting work and family, but that was a bottleneck before, too - I had, and have, more things to do than time. Also, to be very direct about it, how much of what I learned could not have been learned by carefully reading accounts of the conference, slides, and other material published on the internet? A lot of it. I'm not sure I would have paid attention to all of it though, so the conference was definitely nice in that it exposed me to some talks and ideas that otherwise I might have brushed off before giving them a chance. In terms of dollars and cents, I won't be able to say for a while whether it was a sensible investment or not.

Would I go again? I'd like to - it was a lot of fun and the people were great.

Like I said, it's tough doing conferences because your competition is the internet!

August 06, 2013

The old snake game has gotten a facelift and a new name. 3D Snake for Android is just what its name implies. The old school game has gone 3 dimensional, and it has never been so much fun. The premise is still the same. You are a snake eating as you crawl along in a box getting bigger and bigger as you go. If you are not fast enough to stay away from the edges, you die. It gets harder the bigger the snake gets, of course. In this newer version, you are a cute little grass snake eating bugs and growing as you go along, but if you get too big and lose control you are in trouble.

It is an analogy for life really, if you think about it.We go along our lives and our triumphs can make our pride grow and grow until we can no longer fit in the constraints of our lives or around the people in it.We can't get out of our own lives, therefore if we grow so large as to bust out, we lose it.Maybe we don't literally lose a life, but we very well could lose much of what makes up our lives as we know it.

No one wants to think about that though.The goal here is to get as big as possible and stay away from the edge, which is not as easy as it sounds.Do it well thought and watch your score climb on the Swarm leaderboards.

July 30, 2013

Minesweeper is the classic game of "can you figure it out before you die." It is the perfect way to kill time or rest your brain with some mindless activity for just a few minutes without anyone knowing. Countless execs over the years have utilized the game to take a break while looking busy, and now with Minesweeper ++ Lite for Android the same technique can be used by anyone anywhere on their android mobile device.

While it may take a second to catch on, once you do you will be hooked.You must "guess" where the mines are and stay away from them.This becomes easier to reduce with time and guessing is no longer necessary once you figure out what you are doing.

What makes it even better is the ability to post scores to the Swarm leaderboards.Compare your progress and rank with players from around the world, but be certain you change your name lest anyone else lurking around the boards catch on to your sneaky break time routine.Of course, be wary of who you share your gaming name with also, but a little inner office camaraderie never hurt anyone.Enjoy free time, or use it as a cover to make you look busy when you are not.Either way you will love the fun that Minesweeper offers.

June 26, 2013

It seems that T-Mobile always does this. They introduce something fairly interesting, and then follow it up with something also kind of interesting, but also a little confusing. It got bad a few years ago, when they had multiple tiers of plans and it was difficult to tell the differences between them in many cases. Their latest foray piggybacks their Uncarrier campaign. “Simple Choice with no credit check” will provide the credit-challenged with access to those same Uncarrier plans.

There are many catches, of course, and the confusion of the plan might turn off consumers before they get a chance to see how it can work for them. For starters, this is advertised as, and mostly effective as, a family plan. Individual users with bad credit are better off examining T-Mobile’s traditional prepaid plans, which are pretty close to the Simple Choice plans, but with no deposit.

Yes, a deposit is required for the no credit check plans. That starts at $60 for the first line, followed by a $40 deposit for the second line, and $20 each for the next two lines. A fifth line is also a $20 deposit, but that has to be a non-phone internet device (tablet, for example). The deposit is refundable, so presumably it covers you for potential non-payment.

The biggest loss here is the lack of automatic payments. Why T-Mobile would take that away I don’t understand. Companies absolutely love autobill features, and it’s pretty standard in prepaid. (Virgin Mobile offers a $5 per month discount if you sign up for automatic payments.) Maybe it will be available in the future, but for now it’s off the table.

Combine all that with the necessity of paying for a device in full, up front, and you have a not so attractive plan. There will be many customers, for sure, who will want an option like this. But given the ease of T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plans, it seems as though this appeals only to those who absolutely cannot pass a credit check. In which case, they’re stuck with what T-Mobile offers.

Earbud headphones almost always suck. At least for me, and I know plenty of others who simply cannot stand them. I remember seeing everyone walking around with the signature white iPod earbuds as I walked around New York City in the mid-00s, wondering how they found them at all comfortable. For me they alway fell out, so I had to readjust them every 30 or so seconds while walking.

A recent trend in earbuds is including three different size buds with each pair. If the default buds are too big or too small, you can change it to one of the other included sizes. This is nice in many ways — I actually have a pair rigged up with two different sized buds on each ear — but I still can’t seem to find a pair that stays in my ear while walking.

Recently I connected with Troy Redington of FatWallet, who raved about the Monoprice 8320 earbuds. At first he went on about the sound quality, how they all but eliminated outside sound. Then he went on about the price, around $8, which just blows away the cheap earbud competition. When I asked about comfort he said he had dozens of earbuds lying around, but these fit far better. So sure, send me a pair for review.

I’m not going to say that these earbuds stayed in my ear like a dream. I’m not going to say that they’re superior to the Bose over-ear headphones I have. But I will say that in terms of earbuds, they are the most comfortable I’ve worn and they do deliver on sound quality. While they’re not great for spoken-word audio, such as podcasts, they do a real good job with all styles of music I tried.

As you can see in the picture atop this post, they’re not exactly normal looking earbuds. They have something of a hook on top, which is actually great. The hook helps the buds fit snugly in your ear. It takes a little twisting, but I got them to fit very well without moving too much. The cords also wrap around your ear, rather than hanging straight down. This probably makes the greatest difference. Since using these, I started wrapping all of my earbuds around my ear like that, and it honestly does make all of them more comfortable.

Yet what stood out to me about the Monoprice buds is that they’re made of nylon, rather than the cheap plasticky, rubbery substance you see with most headphones. It’s strange, because the buds are so cheap, yet the material feels anything but. They just feel more durable, which is nice. When I buy headphones under $10 I expect to replace them pretty quickly. These feel like they’re last for a while.

You can check out the FatWallet site to get these earbuds at an insanely cheap price. They do offer cash back if you register, which is nice. Again, it’s tough to do better for $8. It’s probably tough to do better for triple that.

June 20, 2013

Aquaria is another awesome Indie that’s just arrived on Android courtesy of the Humble Android Bundle 6. It's the second Bundle game we've covered so far, and it's unlike any platformer you've ever played.

April 08, 2013

With Native Union’s SWITCH Bluetooth wireless speaker, you’ll be able to share your favorite music with everyone in the room. It’s also a great way to amplify games and movies from Bluetooth-enabled devices, and it can be used as a professional conference call solution with its full duplex microphone.

Designed by professional sound engineers to ensure exceptional sound and optimal clarity throughout the frequency range, the SWITCH features three powerful speakers — including an active sub-woofer and has an enhanced bass-reflex system. Featuring an intuitive volume control the SWITCH also enables you to effortlessly alternate between music and calls for up to 14 hours at a time. The battery is so powerful, the SWITCH can also function as a power bank for your mobile devices.

The SWITCH can be used either vertically or horizontally, and it features a soft touch exterior that’s available in multiple colors. Check it out today, and get your party started.

March 26, 2013

Delivering state-of-the-art design, ease-of-use, and outstanding sound quality, Jabra’s newest corded and wireless stereo headphones are perfect for hard-wearing, everyday use and portability. The lineup includes the over-the-head Jabra Revo — available in corded and Wireless versions — and the small but tough in-ear Jabra Vox.

The Jabra Revo Wireless

Jabra has upped the ante sonically with the addition of Dolby Digital Plus technology for all three models. With Jabra’s exclusive Sound App for iOS and Android devices, you’ll enjoy a richer and fuller sound that is often missing in digitally compressed audio, breathing new life into your favorite music while giving it extra depth and dimension.

Jabra Revo Corded and Wireless

Both the Jabra Revo Wireless (a 2013 red dot design award winner) and Jabra Revo corded headphones (the latter available in gray and white) are solidly constructed using an aluminium frame, steel hinges, and a shatter-proof headband for extreme flexibility. Both the corded and Wireless versions are super comfortable with a padded headband and plush, memory foam ear cups. They feature a foldable design for quick, compact storage and come with a detachable cord and USB charging for convenience.

Play or pause music, skip tracks, and take calls with ease by using in-line controls on the corded version instead of searching around for your phone. The Revo Wireless utilizes both Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies to pair with your device, and its Turntable Touch Control allows you to easily play, skip, or pause your music while also managing calls.

The corded Jabra Vox

Jabra Vox

Size matters… especially when earphones so small command massive sound like Jabra Vox. Optimized for superior sound and performance with portable devices, the Jabra Vox really packs a punch. Get the perfect fit with specially designed ColorCore EarGels for enhanced comfort and deep sound. Vox’s earbuds are engineered to rest comfortably for extended use. The Vox also includes in-line controls for playing or pausing music as well as taking calls.

Dolby Digital Plus

With Jabra’s exclusive Sound App (available for iOS and Android devices), Dolby Digital Plus adds that extra depth and dimension to your music — extending bass performance and enhancing high frequencies so your music retains its clarity.

The Jabra Sound App automatically identifies your music files so it’s easy to get started. Simply download the App, and you’re ready to go. Use the App to create and browse through playlists, share music on Facebook or Twitter and adjust the graphic equalizer so you can play your tracks as you want to hear them.

Find the right headphone for your needs today, whether it be the corded in-ear Vox, corded over-the-head Revo (in gray and white), or the Revo Wireless for the ultimate in freedom.

January 14, 2013

I've been reading "The Millionaire Next Door" and have so far found it to be a pleasant book with a good message: don't waste your money on silly things and appearance (fancy suits, fancy cars, expensive boats, etc...), save what you do earn consistently and constantly, invest wisely, and so on. Wikipedia has a good summary:

One of the things I like about it is that it focuses on "ordinary" wealthy people, those with a million or more in the bank, but not the Warren Buffets or Bill Gates types that are extreme statistical outliers. There are plenty of people in the US who have done well by themselves by slowly but surely putting together enough money to be financially independent, without, however, being in the spotlight. As the book says, these are the kind of people who maybe own a local chain of businesses doing something fairly ordinary, but doing it well enough to succeed. They may very well not live in a fancy house, nor drive an expensive car, or otherwise outwardly draw much attention to themselves.

The world of software does not revolve around "dressing for success" (you noticed?), but we do tend to focus on the "big winners". Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Larry & Sergey, Larry Ellison, and so on are the stars of the show. Of course, the economics of software being what they are,instances of winner-take-all markets with one big fish and a lot of also-rans are not uncommon. However, that is not the only story, and I think it'd be interesting to know more about those in our industry who have accumulated significant wealth, yet are not the guys with more money than they could possibly ever spend on things that aren't, say, country-sized chunks of real-estate.

I'm guessing they'd fall into these categories:

Highly paid workers who have consistently saved over the years. There are examples in the aforementioned book about people with relatively low salaries who happened to be very frugal and invest well (and have had some luck in their investments too). These people would probably tend to be older, as it takes a while to save up that kind of money, and since this industry is so young with so much turnover, I would not think there would be a lot of people out there like this, but who knows, maybe there are a bunch of IBMers with this kind of story.

Those who got in on the right IPO, like Google or Facebook or something like that. These events not only generate billions for those at the top of the heap, but for the right person at the right place at the right time, can mean significant wealth even without being in the upper echelons of the company. My suspicion is that this kind of IPO, where everyone cashes out, is not common enough to have a lot of people in this category, but who knows, maybe it adds up over the years.

Those who own or started software firms that do something that's not very visible, but nonetheless dominates some particular niche. This is where I'd guess most of them would be, but I certainly have no data or even anecdotes to back this up.

It'd be very interesting to gather some actual data on this, although I'm not in a position to do so myself - I wouldn't even really know where to start.

As I age, I think the third category has begun to seem appealing in many ways - I'm simply not cut out for the Big Company life, and I'm not interested in living in Silicon Valley and going "all in" on the latest startup - I already did that, and while it was fun and I don't regret it, it's not the kind of thing I'd want to do now that I'm married and have kids. Incidentally, this more relaxed, under the radar approach is exactly what is expoused in one of my favorite books of the past few years, Start Small, Stay Small.

December 22, 2012

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new Android application that may appeal to everyone who uses their phone while driving.

InDrive is a GPS-enabled application that combines the standard car home functionality with a trip computer and Poweramp support. The app makes it very easy to launch your favorite applications, directly dial numbers, view your trip information and control music playback*. It will auto launch when placed in a compatible car dock. If you don’t have a physical car dock, InDrive provides an option to force the phone into car mode, in which it will override the Home button.

* The music screen is designed to work in conjunction with Poweramp. Without Poweramp installed, you will only be able to do very basic controls such as switching to the next song in the default Android music player. Support for other media players is not guaranteed.

Please download the app from Google Play and tell us what you think. Your feedback is much appreciated.

July 23, 2012

In spite of trying hard, I couldn’t prevent the delay. I am again sorry for that. Let’s move on. In the last post, I introduced the concept of transfer of data between activities. I also described the code for declaring an Intent which could help us in accomplishing the task.

Now, it’s time to look at the code of SecondActivity.java, the second activity which will help us in adding new tasks to the list. As mentioned earlier, this activity will have an EditText to allow the user to input the task name and a Button, which when clicked, will take the user back to HelloWorldActivity.java and add the task to the List. The code for the click listener for this button looks as follows:

String taskName = taskEdit.getText().toString();

Intent intent = this.getIntent();

intent.putExtra(“task”, taskName);

setResult(RESULT_OK, intent);

finish();

Here, taskEdit is an object of class EditText. The first line extracts the data input to the taskEdit, converts it into string and stores it in a variable. Second line is used to grab access to the intent which called this activity. The third line is the one which actually does the job of putting the data onto the intent. intent.putExtra function used in this line basically adds the information contained in the second parameter to the intent and the first parameter provides a way to access it. We will see the use of the first parameter in a greater detail later, when we will try to access this information in HelloWorldActivity.java. I hope that the fourth and fifth lines will be pretty easy to understand. If not, please refer to the last three posts on Intents.

The above code ensures that the clicking of the button takes us back to the initial activity with an intent which contains the name of the new task that is to be added to the list.

Clearly, the callback function described in Part 1 of this post will be used to access the information carried by the intent since this function will be automatically called when the control is given back to this activity via an intent. Straight away, let’s look at the code!

I think it is self-explanatory. We are extracting the information from the variable data using the value of the first parameter of the function in Line 4 above, and saving it in a variable called extraData. The second line just appends this value to the list (referred by taskText).

In this way, we received the name of the task from a different activity and display it in our main activity. This provides a clean and user-friendly interface which is the basis of a useful app.

But here, we have not taken care of the situation when the user calls the intent to SecondActivity.java but wants to cancel it later. This is not perfect programming, though it can be dealt very easily. How?

In the next post, we will finish our discussion on intent and move on to explore some new concepts in Android App Development.

July 11, 2012

Last time, we had looked at the most basic communication which can be achieved among activities. It allowed us to switch between activities back and forth, which is an important concept used in almost all the android apps these days.

Moving on, it’s time to look at the data transfer using Intents. Consider the case of a simple Task application, in which a To-do list is shown in one activity while another activity performs the task of adding new items to the list. So, what’s happening here?

Basically, we need to create a new task in the second Activity and somehow transfer it to the first activity so that it could add it in the existing list. Note that we are not using any database. If we do so which is done most of the times, this app will be useless in itself. But, I am still discussing this app because I feel that it’s the best in order to understand the concept of transfer of data which you may need in various other apps.

In this post, I will not go through the layout or the entire code of the app. I may go through it later. But, I hope that you will be able to do so after going through the previous posts. As a hint, we will be using a TextView (to display the list) and a Button while making the first activity, while the second Activity will have an EditText and a Button.

Assuming that we have an EditText in the second Activity and when the user presses enter, the string in the EditText is captured in a string variable called NewTask, we need to simply tranfer the contents of NewTask to the first activity.

To achieve this, we need to call the intent when the button in pressed in the first activity in such a way that the Android platform knows that some data will be coming back to this activity. Continuing with the app from the previous post by replacing the startActivity(intent);by

startActivityForResult(intent, 1);

1 as a parameter acts as a unique code used to distinguish data received by this intent from the data received by other intents if more intents are used. Using the above functin, we have been able to call the intent, but we have not yet accessed the data which comes back with this intent.

To achieve this, we need to use a callback function which will called automatically when the intent returns. Let’s look at the code for this function:

In our case, requestCode is 1. resultCode is a variable which is set to value RESULT_OK if the intent was successfully handled. data is the variable which contains the data received from the other activity.

In the next post, we will look at the code to extract the information as well as the code for the second Activity which puts the information in the intent.

July 04, 2012

Blogs come and blogs go, and nowhere is this more apparent than in a fast changing technology area such as Android. Today I removed 12 feeds from PlanetAndroid that haven't had updates in a while (some since 2010). If you feel your feed was removed in error, let me know.

In a reply to a recent post, one reader said they'd like to see fewer app reviews and news articles here, and more development diaries, tutorials, and community activities. What do you think? What are your most favorite and least favorite feeds? Let me know in the comments.

June 26, 2012

Kikoriki: The Beginning [by HeroCraft] is yet another arcade adventure android game from the people that brought you Dragon and Dracula. The game is based on the Russian cartoon series “Smeshariki”, but the show is known by different names in other countries.

The characters of the animated series become superheroes in this adventure, which is always fun for kids and adults. Children will probably enjoy it more than adults due to the excruciatingly child friendly atmosphere of the game. However, some grown-ups might give it a go just to try out the various super powers each hero possesses.

Your mission is to vanquish evil and thus save the boring grown up world from destruction. How does one do that? Well, by working together of course, just like best friends should! The power of friendship is demonstrated in the game by allowing the player to switch between two characters during gameplay and use their individual super powers to solve puzzles, defeat bosses and do anything to complete the level.

The three chapters of the story take you from the happy land of Kikoriki to the boring grey Megapolis. Each chapter tells a different story and allows you to play various characters. The game has brightly colored, simple and yet well drawn cartoon style graphics with smooth animation. The controls might take a bit of getting used to, the joystick in particular. I do like the soundtrack, which reminded me of the music from good old cartoons like Tom & Jerry. Kikoriki will only set you back $1, unless you don’t really love your children that much, in which case you can opt for the lite version. Either way, the game will help keep your kids preoccupied and will not only help them learn about friendship and growing up, but will also teach them that if you touch purple butterflies it will make you sneeze stars.

Dragon and Dracula [by HeroCraft] is a fun and challenging arcade android game that is sure to touch the hearts of the Mario and Spyro the Dragon generation. It takes the jumping, coin collecting and shrooms – the inspiration for many 90’s games – from Mario, giving the role of the hero to an increasingly awesome dragon, whose job is to defeat Dracula.

The fact that you start the game with just a little baby dragon that jumps can be disappointing, at first. However, as you progress through the 25 levels of the game, learning new skills, collecting artifacts and battling enemies, you will see the little guy go through three stages of evolution. With every new form the dragon grows, acquiring fire breathing, flying, climbing and head bashing abilities, not to mention a mean look.

The dragon’s natural abilities are enhanced with the always popular temporary perks such as invulnerability, increased speed, regeneration and many more. They will be of great help on the quest to destroy the Dark Lord’s minions and defeat the legendary vampire that is Dracula. Gamers who find the adventure to be unfulfilling can enjoy some mini games that are unlocked during gameplay.

Controls might take a couple of deaths to get used to and actually made me play with my tongue out, which I have not done in a while. The menu is very well thought through, easy to navigate and has all the information on game controls, settings, stats and sharing options. Thanks to the simple yet visually pleasing and familiar graphics, the gameplay is smooth. Not a fan of the soundtrack though, which sounds like old Japanese game techno music. For only $1 Dragon and Dracula has a lot to offer with tricky levels, epic boss fights, addictive mini games and main character customizations. If you are just looking for a fun adventure or want to prove yourself on a global scale, this is the bargain to go for.

June 14, 2012

Starting today I'll be removing most feeds that include embedded ads. Currently, I pay for PlanetAndroid's upkeep out of my own pocket, with no revenue coming in from ads or donations at all. When an ad appears in one of our feeds, it takes space away from the other articles and gets clicks based on the drawing power of the whole site, including feeds with no ads. That didn't seem fair.

I grandfathered in a handful of feeds for various reasons including new sites that need the extra juice that PlanetAndroid brings to help them get started. Some sites report that being listed on PlanetAndroid has doubled their traffic! If you feel your feed was unfairly removed, or if you make a new feed without the ads and want to re-join, just let me know. Thanks for your support.

June 12, 2011

Although I understand that Google has had to contend with both the open source zealots and the closed-everything carriers, upon looking at the trend, I find Google’s actions getting more disturbing. Just as Android seems to be coming into its own and Google should have more power than ever to twist arms, Google seems to be wimping out – or turning evil. I hope I’m wrong and they’re just waiting for the right time.

One thing I completely forgot to talk about is the abandoning of the Nexus One. When it came out, it was supposed to herald a new age of cross-carrier, stock-Android phones (with a built-in connection-sharing capability, no less). Only T-Mobile really picked it up – you could use it on AT&T but without 3G. Verizon and Sprint were supposed to be coming out with support for the same concept and just a different radio, but instead they released their own phones, with the usual modifications and constraints. So why did Google let them? They didn’t have to; the Skyhook case shows that Google can essentially pull their blessing from any phone for any reason. An Android phone without the Google apps isn’t going to be very attractive to consumers. Why didn’t Google force Verizon and Sprint to kowtow to the Nexus One before allowing them to release any more Android phones?

April 01, 2011

Well – I don’t want to let the *entire* month of March go by without a post. I just haven’t done much with tech this month, though. It sucked. But evidently my absence has caused a surge in popularity, according to my stats. Less is more?

If I remember correctly – is Honeycomb the first version of Android where we actually saw a preview, got to fiddle with the SDK platform preview before it was actually embodied in a device? If so, better late than never, and let’s hope it means we’re on the way to seeing more of a community effort. Hey, it took a while for Red Hat to learn with Fedora, too, and they didn’t have voracious proprietary partners to contend with.

I have a meetup or two to arrange, but I hope I get some time to work further with ORMlite shortly.